Caramels with Himalayan Pink Sea Salt

I have wanted to make caramels for a long time. When I was visiting Toronto, my mom had left me a book with a recipe for caramels and thye didn't look too hard. So as soon as I got home, one of the first things I made was the caramels.

They took a long time (about an hour) because I had the stove on pretty low, but I think cooking it slowly yielded a great result. The caramels were the perfect texture - soft and chewy - and a beautiful caramel colour. A sprinkling of Himalayan pink sea salt on top added a lot to the taste as well.

I also individually wrapped each square in wax paper, so they were very cute and easy to give away. The only thing I'm not sure about is the storage temperature - some of them peeled away easily from the wax, but other ones stuck a little bit.

Future caramel ideas - flavoured caramels, like lavender or raspberry, chocolate caramels, or chocolate-covered caramels. Mmmm.

Caramels with Pink Sea Salt
Adapted from Miette
Yield: 64 1-inch squares
Print recipe

1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
3 tbsp water
Himalayan sea salt, for sprinkling

1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a slight overhang on all sides.


2. In a medium pot, combine cream, milk, sugar, brown sugar, salt, butter, corn syrup, and water.


3. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot.


4. Place over medium-low heat and cook, whisking occasionally, until the mixture 246F, 45-60 minutes.


5. Once mixture reaches the correct temperature, remove from heat and pour into prepared pan.


6. Let cool for 15 minutes and then sprinkle with sea salt.


7. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate pan for 30-90 minutes, until set.


8. Lift caramel out of pan using parchment paper handles. Place on waxed paper on top of a cutting board.


9. Measure 1-inch intervals and then cut the caramel into 1-inch squares.


10. Wrap each caramel in a square of waxed paper and twist both ends. Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Turkish Lentil Soup

A lot has changed since the last time I posted. I quit Hawksworth. I got into the pastry program at VCC and I start classes on Monday. We were supposed to take a trip to France, but ended up in Turkey and Croatia instead. We had a wonderful time exploring countries we didn't know much about and of course eating some local cuisine. My favourite new food that we found in Turkey was lentil soup. It's thick and filling and a little bit spicy - so delicious. I found a recipe and I think it's a pretty good first attempt at recreating the Turkish version.

Turkish Lentil Soup
Adapted from this recipe on wholefoodsmarket.com
Yield: 4-6 servings
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2 tbsp butter
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup red lentils
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat.


2. Add onion, carrot, and garlic, and sweat with a pinch of salt until onions are translucent, 8 to 10 minutes.


3. Add tomato paste, cumin and cayenne. Stir to combine.


4. Add lentils, broth, and water, and bring to a boil.


5. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender and lentils begin to fall apart, about 25 minutes.


6. Remove pot from heat and use an immersion blender to blend soup until it is creamy but not completely puréed.


7. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a lemon wedge to garnish, if desired.

Smores

I wanted to make a second thing for A to bring to his work function, thinking I would try out a new cookie recipe. But I was working at the hockey game yesterday and the pastry girl had made marshmallows, and I decided that's what I wanted to do. I told her my plan and she suggested that I made smores instead. Brilliant. So I made a basic graham cracker crust, covered it with ganache, and then placed the marshmallows on top. If I had a torch, I would probably try brulee-ing the tops of the marshmallow to give it that toasted taste. Delicious.

Marshmallow
Adapted from this recipe on cookingforengineers.com
Yield: 1 9x13 pan or 36 1.5x2.25 inch bars
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icing sugar, for dusting
3 tbsp gelatin
1/2 cup water
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Prepare a 9x13 glass dish by greasing it with butter and sifting icing sugar over the bottom and sides of pan.


2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine gelatin and 1/2 cup water. Let bloom for 10 minutes.


3. In the meantime, in a pot, combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water.


4. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Allow to boil until temperature passes 250F.


5. Turn mixer on at low speed, and drizzle in hot sugar.


6. Once all syrup is mixed in, turn mixer to medium-high speed, and add salt.


7. Continue mixing for 8 to 10 minutes. Once volume of marshmallow has stopped increasing, add vanilla or other flavouring (I also added almond extract).


8. Pour marshmallow into prepared pan. Use a buttered rubber spatula to spread mixture.


9. Let marshmallow cool and set for 4 hours or overnight.


10. Turn out onto a cutting board dusted with icing sugar. Using a pizza wheel, section the marshmallows into desired shapes. Dredge each piece in icing sugar.


11. Store in airtight container.

Ginger Cake

I made this ginger cake last week. I was looking through the Joy of Cooking for new recipes and was captured by the description of this cake: "Some of the best cooks we know sweat by versions of this cake. The large quantity of fresh ginger (don't be afraid) and the absence of other spices produces a sophisticated cake." The recipe called for 1/2 cup of ginger, but I found it a bit too ginger-y. I made it again today, for A to bring to a work function tomorrow, and reduced the ginger to 1/3 cup, and I think it turned out much better. It is a really easy cake to make, and I think the description calling it "sophisticated" is perfect.

Ginger Cake
Adapted from Joy of Cooking
Yield: 1 8x8 square pan, or 9 2.5-inch squares
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1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1/3 cup finely minced ginger
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350F.


2. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a slight overhang on all sides.


3. In a small pot, combine butter and water and heat until butter is melted.


4. In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, molasses, honey, and egg. Add ginger and whisk to combine.


5. Whisk butter mixture into molasses mixture.


6. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to molasses mixture and stir in just until smooth.


7. Scrape batter into pan and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. 


8. Cool completely.

Fromage Frais

I had a really fun weekend making fromage frais. My mom bought me a cheesemaking book and I've been looking forward to trying some recipes from it for a while. We spent Saturday shopping for rennet, a coagulant, and for the bacterial culture, which we ended up finding at Les Amis du Fromage, which we had never been to before, but were impressed by - we'll definitely go back to buy cheese another time.

The recipe was really easy - it only took about 10 minutes to do. The milk had to sit out at room temperature for about 12 hours, so Sunday morning before work, I drained it into cheesecloth. It wasn't really like the ricotta or paneer I had made before, where the curds separate visibly from the whey. I poured the entire pot into the cheesecloth, and it seemed very watery. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to turn out, but I was really excited to come home from work to find it had set up perfectly. I was happy.

I haven't quite had time to figure out what to do with it yet because on Monday I got really sick. I'll post some pictures once I make something with the cheese. But I will definitely be making more cheese in the future, maybe some goat's cheese, if I can find goat's milk, and feta one day soon too.

Fromage Frais
From 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes
Yield: 1L
Print recipe

4L whole milk
1/4 tsp aroma or mesophilic culture
2 drops liquid rennet
kosher salt

1. In a large pot, warm milk over medium heat to 77F (25C), stirring gently to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.


2. Sprinkle culture over surface of milk and let stand about 5 minutes to rehydrate.


3. Using a skimmer and an up-and-down motion, gently draw culture down into milk without breaking surface of milk.


4. Dilute rennet in 1 tablespoon of cool water. 


5. Add diluted rennet to milk. Using same up-and-down motion, draw rennet down into milk until well blended.


6. Cover and let set at room temperature in a draft-free location for 12 hours.


7. Using a skimmer, ladle curd into a cloth-lined colander and let drain. The draining will take several hours, depending on how firm you want your final product to be.


8. Remove cheese from cloth and place in a bowl. Weigh cheese, then add 1% of the weight in salt.


9. Store in the coldest part of the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Broccoli, Cheddar, and Quinoa Soup

My mom bought me a book of quinoa recipes that I have been excited to try. I finally made a couple of things last night, but the only one of the three that I liked was this soup. You don't really even notice the quinoa in the soup, so it's a super easy way to add nutrition to a meal. And with the weather cooling down, the soup is a perfect way to keep warm.



Broccoli, Cheddar, and Quinoa Soup
Adapted from Quinoa 365
Yield: 4-6 servings
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3 cups broccoli florets
1 tbsp butter
1 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup quinoa
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat.


2. Add onion and saute until soft, about 10 minutes.


3. Add broccoli, quinoa, and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.


4. Puree with a hand blender or food processor.


5. Add cream and season with salt and pepper.


6. While soup is hot, stir in cheese until just melted. Serve immediately.

Potato Salad

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a long time now. I made this summery potato salad a few times over the bbq season. You can add any vegetables you like, but I used red nugget potatoes, yellow and green beans, tomatoes, and baby carrots. Blanch all the vegetables separately (besides the tomatoes of course) and cut into bite-sized pieces before combining.



Potato Salad Dressing
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
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1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp prepared pesto
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
fresh dill, to taste
fresh parsley, chopped, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients.


2. Toss with vegetables.