malted blondies with pecans & kisses

Blondies are underrated. Brownies get more attention; I see more brownie recipes floating around the internet and I generally feel more palpable brownie excitement. I tested this scientifically (by googling) and I turned up 1,360,000 results for blondies and 47,300,000 results for brownies. This seems crazy. I like brownies a lot, I'm not trying to denounce them or lower them in the public esteem, but blondies have some pretty enticing charms of their own.  I am here to advocate for the blondie-I am the Lorax of the blondie. 

Maybe brownies seem sexier-so chocolatey and intense. But blondies have great rich toasty-toffee flavour, without being overpowering like the chocolate in a brownie. This makes blondies a particularly good canvas for experimentation. Their flavour is similar to great chocolate chip cookies but in a denser, chewier form with a thin crispy, shattery crust. They are great and they deserve a place in our hearts and minds that rivals the oft praised brownie. 

I added malt powder, pecans and mini kisses to these blondies, which emphasizes their lovely toasty quality.

adapted from smitten kitchen

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• a pinch of salt

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup malt powder

• 1/2 cup toasted pecans

• 1 cup mini chocolate kisses (or chocolate chips, but really the mini kisses are great)

Mix butter and sugar until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and malt powder. Add pecans and mini kisses and combine until they are evenly distributed. 

Spread evenly in a 8"x 8" pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes until just set. They should be soft in the centre and just crispy around the edges. If in doubt pull them out early-the gooey-ness of the blondies is crucial. 

Let cool a bit, though I strongly encourage eating them before they are entirely cooled. They are best soft and warm from the pan, ideally with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

Photo credits: Tyrel Hiebert

preserved lemon rubbed roast chicken

I really like preserved lemons. They are one thing that is really worthwhile to make at home, because when you get them from the supermarket, they tend to come in tiny precious jars with a few lemon in them for $15. They are really expensive to buy and they are easy and cheap to make yourself. If you want to make them, check out my post to learn how.  The large amount of salt means that the lemons will keep indefinitely in the fridge. Lots of recipes call for just the rind of the preserved lemons to be used but I like to use the whole lemons, the insides taste great too. 

I like to turn them into a salty, lemony, spicy paste using lots of whole preserved lemons and a few hot peppers. This paste keeps for ages just like preserved lemons will. It's great blended into a vinaigrette or tossed into pasta with lots of garlic. It's also great rubbed all over the skin of a chicken before roasting. The salt in the lemon paste dries out the skin a little and makes it crispy and delicious. 

This chicken goes really well with herbed harissa and feta carrot salad or possibly some roast potatoes tossed in a little harissa & olive oil. Yum.

preserved lemon and chili paste: 

• 10 whole preserved lemons

• a couple fresh hot chilis, finely chopped

• In a food processor, blend the lemons and chilis until a smooth paste forms.

preserved lemon rubbed roast chicken:

• preserved lemon and chilli paste

• one chicken

• black pepper

• onions, garlic and lemon halves to roast chicken over

Rub the chicken all over and inside the cavity with a generous amount of lemon paste. Sprinkle on lots of cracked black pepper. Lay the onions, garlic and lemons in a roasting dish and place the chicken on top. Drizzle with a little oil Roast the chicken at 450 degrees for 1-1.5 hrs, depending on your chicken size, until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. 

Photo credits: Tyrel Hiebert

herbed harissa & feta carrot salad

I know that January is basically over, but I still feel like I am rebounding from my steady holiday diet of chocolate, cookies, wine and beef wellington. This salad is exactly the kind of thing I like to eat a lot of when I have spent a couple weeks eating...richly. It helps me feel balanced to eat big bowlfuls of bright, tasty vegetables. 

I saw this recipe over at smitten kitchen a little while ago and it looked great; I slotted it away in the back of my mind as a thing to try and then half forgot about it. Then I heard Molly Wizenberg talking about on Spilled Milk's carrot episode (Spilled Milk is a great podcast by the way, you should all go check it out!) and I remembered my intention to eat this salad. After it came so highly recommended by two brilliant women, I really had no choice. 

I made a few changes; I upped the herbs a lot. The original calls for a couple tablespoons each mint and parsley, I used at least a cup of each. I like how fresh and bright it is with large amounts of herbs, and it feels luxurious to treat them as another vegetable rather than a garnish. 

Note: Harissa is a chili and spice paste from North Africa. You can find it lots of supermarkets or specialty food stores. It's worth hunting around for, but if you're having difficulty finding it, this dressing will still be great with some chili flakes or powder for some heat.  

herbed harissa & feta carrot salad:

adapted from the genius smitten kitchen (where it was adapted from a reader, who adapted it from her mother who may have adapted it from cuisine magazine)

• around 10 large carrots, washed and peeled if you feel like it (I didn't)
• 1 cup parsley, finely chopped 
• 1 cup mint, finely chopped 
• 1/3 cup olive oil 
• 1/3 cup lemon juice 
• 2 cloves garlic, grated on a fine rasp 
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin (I like a lot of cumin, but you can dial it back if you prefer) 
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp harissa (I have a really mild harissa and I actually used more than this. Add it a bit at a time until you have the heat you would like)
• 1/2 tsp sugar 
• salt and pepper
• 1/21 cup feta, crumbled

Grate the carrots on the large holes of a box grater or on a food processor grater blade if you have one. Toss carrots, mint and parsley together in a bowl.

Combine all other ingredients together in a small jar and shake to combine. Drizzle over carrots and toss to combine. Let the salad sit and absorb the dressing for at least a half hour. Sprinkle feta over salad and eat it up. 

Photo credits: Tyrel Hiebert 

mini beef wellingtons, step-by-step: assembly

If you have been following along with the beef wellington posts, you will already have puff pastry, duxelles and green peppercorn sauce. You are practically finished already. Now it's time to put everything together and make some wellingtons! I'm giving instructions for individual portions because I like how they look on the plate: like little parcels or wrapped up gifts. They are more handsome served than slices of a large beef wellington, which never turn out like the beautiful, even layered cross-section slices I see in pictures on other recipes. For me, the slices wind up slumped sadly and frequently missing layers that got stuck to somebody else's slice. Making individual portions solves this problem and provides a very generous ratio of pastry to everything else. 

Happy holidays, merry christmas, talk to you next year! 

mini beef wellingtons: 

• 1 beef tenderloin, thin end removed and saved for another use.

• 1/2 recipe puff pastry

• 1 recipe duxelles

• 4 slices pancetta

• 1 egg

• a splash of cream

• 1 recipe green peppercorn sauce

Salt and pepper the beef on all sides and sear over high heat until browned all over. Remove and cool. Slice into four small steaks, as evenly sized as possible (I made them about 1 1/4 inches thick). 

Mix the egg and cream to make a was for the tops of the beef wellington. Set aside. 

Roll out puff pastry, using a bench scraper to keep it in a square. Roll it out until it is about 20" x 20". Cut the pastry into four equal squares. 

Lay a slice of pancetta over a square of puff pastry, so that it hangs off the edge. 

Smear a little duxelles over the pancetta and place a piece of tenderloin on top. Add duxelles to the top and sides of the beef. 

Wrap the overhanging pancetta over the top of the tenderloin and pull the corners of the pastry over the top of the meat. Brush egg wash over the pastry edges as you work so the overlapping pastry is glued together. 

Repeat this assembly process with the remaining pastry squares. Brush them all over with the egg wash. 

 Bake wellingtons at 425 until the pastry is golden brown and the internal temperature is between 125 (rare) and 140 (medium). 

Serve with warm green peppercorn sauce and roasted vegetables. 

Photo credits: Tyrel Hiebert

mini beef wellingtons step-by-step: green peppercorn sauce

I think green peppercorn sauce might be magic. It is salty and beefy and creamy and wonderful. Even if you aren't going to make the whole beef wellington, I recommend trying the sauce, on a steak or a roast.  I would also recommend doubling this recipe, because you might find yourself eating a lot of things dipped in peppercorn sauce, it's almost impossible to stop eating it once you have started. 

The other reason I like making this sauce so much, is that you get to set it on fire! I like any recipe that involves setting things on fire or using a blowtorch, it's so exciting-if mildly hazardous. A couple years ago when I made this sauce, I nearly burnt my eyebrows off-the fumes from the brandy can create quite a large flare up. I recommend the use of long kitchen matches for this task. 

green peppercorn sauce: 

adapted from the food network 

• a little butter or lard 
• 2 shallots, peeled and halved
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 cup brandy
• 4 cups beef stock
• 2 cups cream
• 1/4 cup green peppercorns, slightly crushed

In a large, deep saucepan, sauté the garlic and shallots in fat over medium heat until the begin to soften and colour. Take the pan off the heat and add the brandy. Set brandy alight using a long kitchen match (taking care not to set yourself or anything else unintentionally on fire) and wait for the flame to die completely. Add the beef stock and, over medium-high heat, reduce stock by about half. Strain out the solids and add the cream. Reduce by half again and add the peppercorns. 

The sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before serving. 

Beef wellington part 1: Puff Pastry

Beef wellington part 2: Duxelles 

Photo credits: Tyrel Hiebert

beef wellington step by step: duxelles

Duxelles is a mushroom paste that goes inside of beef wellington. It can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for a day or two, or frozen for longer. It's pretty straightforward to make, you barely need a recipe! 

Finely chop about 6 cups of mixed mushrooms, a few peeled cloves of garlic and a couple of peeled shallots. If you have a food processor, its very helpful for this part, but you can chop them by hand. Sauté the mushrooms in a little butter over medium heat until they begin to sweat. Add a little salt to encourage them to shed more water and continue to sauté until they are reduced in size by about half. That's duxelles! 

If you aren't making beef wellington, duxelles is also great smeared on a piece of bread with some goat cheese. It's an easy appetizer, or if you're like me, it's a great lazy dinner. 

Mini beef wellingtons part 1: Puff Pastry

Mini beef wellingtons, part 3: Green Peppercorn Sauce 

Photo credits: Tyrel Hiebert