Maple Apple Crisp

I was once told that apple crisp was the quintessential university dessert. It's a little fancier than say, scooping some ice cream into a bowl (although if it's tasty ice cream I'm sure it wouldn't matter), but it's certainly not as labour/skill-intensive as baking a whole apple pie or a decadent cheesecake and the ingredients are easily attainable.

But I have a confession to make: I don't have a go-to recipe for apple crisp.

Like many of my other apple recipes that I made during March, I turned to this mainly because I had a glut of apples that I wasn't going to eat, BUT I was also inspired by a yummy, tart apple-rhubarb-strawberry(?) crisp that my roommate had made the previous week. My roommate was all "I'm worried that it's too sour" but I loved it so much I even took the last piece and wrote "Haha suckerrrsss!" on the fridge (actually I wrote something more along the lines of "Sorry..." but you know me, so non-confrontational)

I wanted a recipe that was simple, but also a little different, which is why I turned to this maple apple crisp recipe. Although it was good and I did try my best to cut down the sugar, I still would take the lovely tartness of a rhubarb crisp over it any day... perhaps I should have tried using some tarter apples... we'll see.

Maple Apple Crisp
Adapted from AllRecipes.com
Makes one 8x8" pan

• [The equivalent of] 5 medium apples - peeled, cored and sliced
• 85 mL (⅓ cup) maple syrup
• 125 mL (½ cup) whole wheat flour
• 125 mL (½ cup) rolled oats
• 60 mL (¼ cup) brown sugar
• 60 mL (¼ cup) butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Place apples in an 8x8 inch baking dish. Toss apples with syrup. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, oats and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, until topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition Info (per 2×2" piece): 111 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated), 7 mg cholesterol, 20 g carbohydrate (2 g fibre, 12 g sugar), 2 g protein, 22 mg sodium. An excellent source of manganese.

So I guess I'm still on the lookout for an easy, go-to apple crisp recipe with a hint of tartness... or maybe I should just stick to rhubarb crumbles.

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The entry Jess has been waiting for (Layered Apple Cake)

This is the cake that Elizabeth Baird['s people] made me when I met her way back in October to interview her for my review on the most recent Canadian Living cookbook, Make It Tonight.

Oh, no, no, I'm not saying I pulled a six-month old cake from the fridge! I'm saying I made the recipe myself, using the probably-too-sweet-for-cooking-but-not-quite-crisp-enough-for-eating apples from Organic Campus that I always seemed to have too many of.

The scariest thing about the cake is that it tells you each serving has 500 calories - crazy! I immediately tried to think of ways to cut back on the calories, like reducing the sugar, but here's the quickest way: the recipe claims to make 9 servings out of a 9-inch square pan. Really? You're going to eat 3" x 3" pieces of cake? Because if you cut the cake into 16 servings, you're instantly down to less than 300 calories a piece, which isn't so bad for a dessert.

The cake isn't sinful (I personally think it's impossible for any cake with fruit in it to be sinful); it's got a lovely, moist, not-too-dense crumb with a yummy graham crust.

Layered Apple Cake
Adapted from Make It Tonight: Delicious, No-fuss Dinner Solutions for Every Cook
Makes 16 servings
Topping:

• 500 mL (2 cups) graham cracker crumbs
• 125 mL (½ cup) butter, melted

Cake:

• 125 mL (½ cup) butter, softened
• 125 mL (½ cup) packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla
• 375 mL (1½ cups) whole wheat flour
• 5 mL (1 tsp) cinnamon
• 5 mL (1 tsp) baking powder
• 1 mL (½ tsp) salt
• 125 mL (½ cup) milk
• 500 mL (2 cups) apples, diced and peeled

1. Grease a 9-inch (23-cm) square metal cake pan; set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter; set aside 1 cup (250 mL) for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into prepared pan. Bake in centre of a 180°C (350°F) oven until firm, about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat softened butter with brown sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture alternately with milk, making 2 additions of dry ingredients and 1 of milk. Fold in apples. Spread evenly on crust. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on top.
5. Bake in centre of a 180°C (350°F) oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool; cut into squares.

Nutrition Info (per 2¼ × 2¼" piece): 225 calories, 12 g fat (8 g saturated), 44 mg cholesterol, 25 g carbohydrate (2 g fibre, 12 g sugar), 3 g protein, 258 mg sodium. An excellent source of manganese. A good source of selenium.

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Sweet

So apparently, I'm not the only one who loves a good Valrhona spicy brownie! My photos (which I put on CC licensing) were featured by two blogs—Midnight Poutine used it as one of the headers for their Morning Brew, which for me was extra-exciting because I definitely used it many-a-time to beef up my story list for the Trib; and Notes from a broad, which seems like a pretty sweet travel blog I could get into (if I could get over my jealousy first!)

Speaking of Cocoa Locale, I ate my Valrhona chai cupcake on Monday and it was delish, as expected. I still prefer the brownie more though; as a chai LOVER I had hoped to be hit with intense spicy, chai flavour, but the rich chocolate almost muted the chai taste (although strangely, I had a few chai-flavoured burps later on in the afternoon). The cake itself was moist with a nice crumb (although obviously not as fudgey as the brownie, but the "icing" was the same) I think if Reema combined her classic vanilla cupcake with the chai spices, I would buy them by the dozen and go broke and gain 20 lb. So maybe it's a good thing that she doesn't.

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Weekend Eats

I would like to interrupt this long, arduous process of bringing you up to date with what I've been cooking (Hey, we've gotten to February!) over the past few months to bring you some updates on what I've been making/eating just this past weekend. Above is the salad I made with the last beet I had from Organic Campus (Yes, there's a beet in there!) and below is a special treat I brought myself from one of Montreal's best bakeries... well, a "boutique gâteau", to be exact.


Two bloggers have written about raw beet salads recently, and while I do prefer the earthy, sweetness of a roasted beet, these salads are easy to prepare to bring to work. My raw beet salad is a little closer to that of Clotilde's, what with the grated carrot and beet, but mine is a little sweeter because I also grate in an apple (they had cute little sweet ones at Organic Campus, which were too small for me to just eat out of hand, although yesterday I put in half of a Gala just because the Organic Campus ones were getting old and sauce-ready), throw in some dried cranberries and raisins and toast some almonds and walnuts. Yesterday I added a little savoury touch with shavings of Romano cheese. On that note, I have a confession to make. Although I know it's cheaper, I really do prefer Romano over Parmesan. Sure it's a little on the salty side, but there's just something about its pure, salty nuttiness that I prefer over Parmesan. Does anyone else notice that or do I just have an untrained palate?

I dressed it with a tangy-sweet honey mustard dressing I've been making lately:

Vincci's Sweet and Sour Honey Mustard Dressing
Dresses 1 salad

• 5 mL (1 tsp) olive oil
• 5 mL (1 tsp) lime juice/cider vinegar
• 2 mL (½ tsp) old-style mustard (the kind with seeds)
• 1 drizzle (can be big or small, depending on your taste) honey
• Zest of orange/lime/lemon (optional)

1. Mix ingredients together in a bowl until honey is dissolved. Pour over salad just before serving.

Nutrition Info: 62 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 7 g carbohydrate (0 g fibre, 6 g sugar), 0 g protein, 28 mg sodium.

So, about that brownie...

I went to visit a friend who lives up on the corner of Villeneuve and Jeanne-Mance, which just so happens to be a block away from Cocoa Locale, which is on Parc, almost at the corner of Villeneuve.



As you can see, I didn't have my camera with me (I took the above photo with my phone) on this little excursion as I had recently watched a video that indicated that Reema runs the place all on her own, so I thought it being Sunday, it would be closed. It turns out that I was in luck, as Reema's "weekend" is on Mondays and Tuesdays and for the rest of the week, she's open from noon till six.

I've read lots lots lots of good things about Cocoa Locale on the Chowhound Quebec boards and was stoked to finally get a chance to go. For a place called Cocoa Locale I was surprised to open the door and not be greeted by the strong aroma of chocolate as I entered. Instead, it was a lighter, almost vanilla scent which was very pleasing and the decor of the little nook is very cute, what with the swing chair and the 50's posters.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be in the Parc area in the near future so I bought a Valrhona spicy chocolate brownie and a Valrhona chai cupcake. The other things on display looked soooo gorgeous—Reema specializes in little cakes with unique flavours adorned with fresh flower petals. I took both to go because I was eager to give the cakes a little photoshoot before eating them. What I like about the cupcakes, I must add, is that it doesn't have that stereotypical swirl of buttercream icing that you will find at places like Itsi Bitsi (which led to a somewhat bad experience, actually) or Crave in Calgary so it's much more transportable (although I guess the reduced calories are also a plus). As a result, Reema's cupcakes look more elegant than cutesy and both the brownie and cupcake survived the trip home (with stops at various grocery stores on the way—I'd forgotten how cheap Marché Lobo was!!!) in a little paper bag.



The bag was opened, and a photoshoot ensued.


I ate just the brownie and packed the cupcake away so that I can have it with my lunch tomorrow. The brownie was everything I've wanted my own spicy chocolate cakes to be. It was just the right amount of spice (although a little too much when a pepper flake got stuck in my teeth) and it wasn't just spicy—there were other spices, like cinnamon, that made the cake almost chai-like, but not as sweet. The chocolate was dark and rich, just the way I like it, and the brownie itself was moist and dense with a fudgey top layer.

I'm pretty excited for my lunch tomorrow.

Cocoa Locale
4807 Avenue du Parc, Montreal QC
514-271-7162 (Currently open 12-6 Wed-Sun... the hours seem to change seasonally, so it might be a good idea to call beforehand)

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Lentil Cabbage Soup

While I desperately want to take credit for introducing black bean brownies to the blogosphere, Heidi of 101 Cookbooks clearly does a much better job; much more people read her blog than my little corner of the web and it's no wonder--her photos are stunning, her prose is educational yet engaging and I think "her" brownie recipe (which she admits to swiping from a cookbook anyway) sounds tastier to boot.

So it's no wonder that I find myself "swiping recipes" from her; this lentil cabbage soup, which served me well for a few lunches and dinners at the beginning of my Stage, is based off none other than her Rustic Cabbage Soup.

I think I really want to get into beans. They are so good for you--a great source of protein and fibre in a variety of shapes, sizes and flavours. And no one seems to be able to get over the (apparent) awesomeness that is Rancho Gordo's heirloom beans. In fact, Heidi used his flageolet in the soup recipe that I sourced!

But I don't own any beans, let alone heirloom. Dried beans are just too much work what with the presoaking and the cooking and on top of that I don't have *that* many recipes to justify buying even just canned beans. So for my occasional legume fix, I reach for lentils.

[INSERT ARTSY FARTSY PHOTO OF LENTILS HERE]

Because lentils are much smaller than beans, they do not require pre-soaking. Just throw them into a pot of water and they'll do their thing. In this recipe I used standard, boring green lentils; other lentils, like red ones, are more exciting because they're so tiny they turn into mush and thus take very well to various curries, or other more puree-texture sorts of dishes.

But enough with the lentils! Let's move onto the second star of the soup--cabbage.

I'm (unfortunately) not much of a leafy green buyer just because I can never seem to finish them before they go bad, so I always welcome new recipes to help me use them up quicker. I actually nabbed this beautiful head from Organic Campus, along with the potatoes that were used in this recipe too.

Again, the soup was yummy and comforting and excellent with Melba toast. It definitely helped that I had some fish "stock" in the freezer from the poaching juices of my Chinese New Year fish, which gave it a very unique character.

Lentil Cabbage Soup
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Makes 4 servings

• 15 mL (1 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
• a big pinch of salt (optional)
• 200 g (½ lb) potatoes, skin on, cut into ½ cm (¼") pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1.25 L+ (5 cups+) stock
• 375 mL (¾ cup) green lentils
• 1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons*

1. Warm the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and potatoes. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender and starting to brown a bit, about 5 minutes - it's o.k. to uncover to stir a couple times.
2. Stir in the garlic and onion and cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the stock and the lentils and bring the pot to a simmer until lentils are soft. You may need to top up the stock a little after the lentils expand.
4. Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 268 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 44 g carbohydrate (16 g fibre, 7 g sugar), 17 g protein, 747 mg sodium. An excellent source of vitamin C, thiamin (vitamin B₁), vitamin B₆, folate, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and manganese. A good source of niacin and copper.

*

Heidi likes putting parmesan cheese on *everything* and this soup was no exception. Unfortunately since I was on my last, hard nubbin of cheese the result left a lot more to be desired.

Nonetheless, my soup was great, with or without cheese. It was definitely nice during my long days at the hospital to break it up with a nice big thermos of hearty, vegetarian soup!

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A more conventional use for black beans (Black Bean Dip with Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper)

After making batches and batches of black bean brownies for January's McGill Open House, I still found myself left with two cans of Eden Organic Black Beans. At that point, I only knew how to use them in brownies, so I sought more conventional uses. One can went into making Molly from Orangette's Quick Black Beans with Cumin and Oregano (which only get better as they cool and become leftovers) and another can went into my own creative project: Black Bean Dip with Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper

I really didn't keep track of the amounts of ingredients I used. Or maybe I did, but it's April now, so I don't remember. I used spices/flavourings that were a bit "hummus-like", such as cumin and lemon juice. This recipe makes a yummy vegetarian spread that's great with or in pitas.

Black Bean Dip with Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper

• 1 head of garlic
• 1 red pepper
• 1 (15 oz/443 mL) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 5 mL (1 tsp) cumin*
• 5 mL (1 tsp) lemon juice*
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Trim off top of head of garlic and halve/de-seed red pepper if desired. Roast in oven for 45 min - 1 hour, until garlic cloves are golden and soft and until red pepper is shrivelling in its skin.
1. Cut up red pepper and scoop roasted garlic into the non-broken food processor attachment to your hand blender or a similar apparatus. Add in remaining ingredients (you may need to do this progressively or add in some lemon juice/yogurt for moisture) and purée until smooth or desired consistency is reached.
2. Enjoy with or in pitas, or just by itself

*Use as guidelines and adjust to taste

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A new twist on an old favourite (Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies)

"I've hit a wall," my boyfriend said to me one day in the Tribune office. In reality, my boyfriend had volunteered to contribute to a bake sale for some magazine that he helps to edit and not being much of a baker, he automatically turned to me for help. Although I was still experimenting with my black bean brownies at the time, I was not sure how well they'd sell at a bake sale. Although I originally wanted to go for something more creative, time constraints got the better of me so I decided to make a healthier version of an old favourite instead.

Remember when I told you about the chocolate chip cookie recipe that my friend always requested I make for parties? Well this is what it's based off of. But of course, I couldn't resist making it a little healthier (though, really, cookies can never truly be healthy) by switching whole wheat flour for white and throwing in some raisins. I personally would throw in some nuts too, but with bake sales you always have to worry about allergies.

Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies
Adapted from Allrecipes.com
Makes 2-3 dozen

• 250 mL (1 cup) butter
• 125 mL (½ cup) white sugar
• 250 mL (1 cup) packed brown sugar
• 5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 675 mL (2½ cups) whole wheat flour
• 5 mL (1 tsp) baking soda
• 5 mL (1 tsp) salt
• 500 mL (2 cups)TOTAL of semisweet chocolate chips, raisins and nuts

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Finally, mix in the chocolate chips, raisins and/or nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

Nutrition Info (per cookie, assuming yield of 30 cookies): 178 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated), 30 mg cholesterol, 23 g carbohydrate (2 g fibre, 15 g sugar), 3 g protein, 171 mg sodium. An excellent source of manganese. A good source of selenium.

Despite the "extra healthy bits", the cookies were still a hit (according to my boyfriend). They sold out, along with the dozen or so black bean brownies I threw in for good measure.

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The Day My Hand Blender Died (Curried Sweet Potato Soup)

This is why I haven't made any soups lately, despite the unseasonally long winter that Montreal has had. Sure I didn't really have time to either (haven't you noticed the lack of posts and the fact that I *still* haven't made the slice-and-bake icebox cookie logs I've bought ingredients for since January?) But it's still a little more melodramatic to say it's because my hand blender attachment broke. And it's all because of this soup, a curried confection that I cobbled together myself that was *almost* worth having to borrow my roommate's blender every time I make smoothies now.


After discovering the wonders of coconutty curry and reminiscing over the various curried soups that I've been served in restaurants over the years, I was just dying to create my own. This recipe reminds me a little of my friend Jessica because she *hates* recipes that are "a dash of this, a handful of that", especially since it's been almost 3 months now, but this is exactly what it was. I think one of the great things about starting this blog is that in addition to posting tasty recipes I've tried, it's fun to share new "recipes" that I've created.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup
Intended for 2 people

• 1 tsp oil
• 2 (or more) cloves of garlic
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1 can coconut milk
• Vincci's curry-style blend*
  • 2 parts curry powder
  • 1 part cumin
  • ½ part cinnamon
  • Dash of chili powder
• Unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add garlic and onion; cook until onion has softened.
2. Add sweet potato, coconut milk and spices to taste. It may be necessary to add a little water/broth to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat until sweet potato has softened.
3. Puree soup using a hand blender until smooth (or to another desired consistency). Taste and adjust spices as needed.
4. Serve with a little sprinkle of shredded coconut.

*In this case, each part is a little over a tbsp; feel free to tweak to your own tastes.

Shameless self-promotion: I wrote a few blurbs on food blogs for a larger features spread in the McGill Tribune--thanks to all those bloggers who responded to my very last minute interviews!

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