Maple cornbread and Nanaimo bars

For the opening ceremony of the 2010 Olympics in Canada, I made another dish using maple syrup and a Canadian dessert called Nanaimo bars. The no-bake bars are super sweet, and have three layers: a base made with chocolate, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, butter, walnuts, egg, sugar and vanilla; a middle layer of butter, milk, powdered sugar and instant vanilla pudding powder; and a topping made with butter and chocolate. The full recipe can be found here. To balance out that rich dessert, I also made maple cornbread, which was very easy to make and had a lightly sweet flavor from the syrup. This, and other maple recipes, can be found here. I have the ingredients for the cornbread below:

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup soymilk or milk
3 T butter, melted

Mix the dry ingredients together, mix the other ingredients together, and combine the two without over-stirring. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Maple apple nut muffins

Yet another recipe for February/Canada/Olympics :)
These are great as a breakfast muffin, warmed up with a little butter.

Maple apple nut muffins

2 eggs, beaten
6 T butter
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
3 T ground flax
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 T baking powder
2 cups wheat flour, 1/2 cup buckwheat flour (or 2 1/2 wheat)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped pecan

Mix together eggs, butter, yogurt, maple, water, sugar and flax. Mix together soda, powder, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg, and add to the batter. Fold in apple and pecan pieces, and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. 
(Note: I tried to fit this batter into 12 muffins, and they were huge! Might be best to use a 16-muffin tin.)

(Recipe by H. Farrell)

Shipwreck

This is the second recipe in honor of Canada and the February Olympics. I had never heard of Shipwreck, but apparently it's Canadian. I read other versions and changed the recipe, using ground turkey instead of beef, adding more veggies and spices, and using a slow cooker instead of the oven. It's easy to prepare, and makes a great, hearty meal for snowy winter days.


Shipwreck


2 large onions, chopped
olive oil
3 chopped garlic cloves
2 medium potatoes, chopped or sliced
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
chopped celery
chopped carrots
frozen peas
1 can pinto beans
1 small can tomato sauce (no salt added)
3/4 cup water
sea salt
black pepper
dried oregano
dried parsley
red pepper flakes (op)
paprika (op)
turmeric (op)
fresh basil leaves (op)


Mix a little olive oil with garlic, onion, salt and pepper in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Layer potatoes over that and season. Add a layer of ground meat, more seasoning, veggies, more seasoning, pinto beans, tomato sauce and water... and top with more seasoning. Cook in slow cooker on high for about 4 hours.

Maple brown sugar oatmeal cookies

Yum, these cookies taste like a bowl of oatmeal with maple syrup, brown sugar, walnuts and raisins. Only crunchier. This is the first recipe in honor of Canada and the upcoming Olympics there. It's an easy recipe and makes the house smell good -- so why not get out the maple and bake some cookies...eh?

Maple brown sugar oatmeal cookies

1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk or soymilk
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Cream egg and butter, mix in syrup, sugar and milk. Fold in spices, flour, oats, raisins and nuts. Chill batter while preheating the oven to 375 degrees. Place spoonfuls of dough on cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Snow day

The snowstorm that had Washington racing to clear grocery store shelves has arrived. Now, we sit back at home, do some baking, and take photos as the world outside turns white. Check back for updates -- on the storm and to see what I make in the kitchen on a snowed-in weekend.

So it begins...

A few hours later, it begins to really stick on the ground...

As the sun sets, the snow covers the grass and begins to pile up on tree limbs...

About 11 p.m. -- the snow is very heavy and weighing down trees; more than a couple of branches are down on the block. Seven or eight inches of snow are already on the ground, with snowfall and wind still full force.

At 9 a.m. the next morning: there is more than a foot of snow on the ground, and it is still snowing.

Sunny and cold the next morning...

Stuffed eggplant

Please ignore the fact that this is eggplant -- it is far from your everyday eggplant. This has a wonderful variety of colors, textures and flavors (the jalapeños provide a nice kick). I got the idea and roasting instructions for stuffed eggplant from a recipe in the Washington Post (I love Wednesdays because that is Food day in the paper). I used a bunch of ingredients from the stuffed tomatoes that I made in October. I also substituted rice, which is in many stuffed veggie recipes, with quinoa, primarily because I didn't have any rice in my pantry. Overall, a tasty and filling dinner.

Stuffed eggplant

1 large eggplant

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 1/2 T pine nuts

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 jalapeño pepper, diced

6 cherry tomatoes, chopped

about 1 cup cooked quinoa (1/2 cup uncooked)

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

pinch of ground cinnamon

sea salt and black pepper to taste

bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese for topping

olive oil for sautéing and drizzling over top

Use a fork to poke holes all over the eggplant and place in a pan lined with foil. Roast at 425 degrees for about 35 minutes. While the eggplant is roasting, sauté onions, garlic and pine nuts in olive oil, and boil quinoa in covered saucepan with 1 cup water until water is gone.

Let the eggplant cool, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the centers, leaving about 1/2 inch around the edge. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Chop the eggplant centers and mix with quinoa, onion, garlic, pine nuts, peppers, tomatoes, parsley, cumin, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Pile mixture into eggplant halves and top with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Drizzle olive oil over top and roast for about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 or 15 minutes before serving.