This is one of the simplest dishes I have ever made, and can be done – super easy, and super tasty! My son and I ate these for breakfast today, and later on I used them to make a delicious desert. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
5-6 bananas (peeled and chopped)
1 cup flax seeds (ground to powder)
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp organic vanilla extract (non-alcoholic)

Preparation:
Mash the bananas real well using a food processor, or do it by hand using a fork. Add the ground flax seeds, cinnamon, and vanilla, and mix real well. Again, you can use a food processor or do it by hand, whichever you prefer. Once the mixture is smooth, spread over dehydrator trays by making round disk-like shapes (like pancakes). Let dry for about 4 to 6 hours. Carefully flip over and dry for another 2 to 4 hours depending upon desired texture. For a dryer more pliable cookie-like texture dry longer. For a more moist pancake like texture dry less. Serve warm or cold -either way this pancake is full of flavor!

We ate ours by spreading coconut butter over them, and drizzling organic maple syrup Grade B with fresh blueberries. For a dessert, I let the pancakes dry a little longer to form a pliable cookie. Then I scooped my favorite raw ice cream, and drizzled raw chocolate syrup over top, adding another pancake on type to form an ice cream cookie – yummo! You could also make banana crepes by thinning the mixture a little with water or coconut water, and then spreading them thinner on the dehydrator trays. This is a super great, nutritious, and simple snack to make! Enjoy!

Light  and delicious crepes filled with  aromatic creamy chocolate sauce. A pure indulgence.

You Will Need

Crepes

4 Eggs

2 cups of Plain Flour

2 tbl Caster Sugar

1 2/3 cups of Milk

3/4 cup of Cream

Icing Sugar to serve

Chocolate Sauce

100g Dark Cooking Chocolate

1/2 cup of Cream

2 tbl Brown Sugar

Method

For Crepes sift plain flour into a bowl and add caster sugar. Combine  eggs, milk and cream, and slowly whisk into the flour until smooth. Allow to stand for 20 minutes.

In a double boiler add in the sauce ingredients all together and mix until the chocolate melts. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Cook the crepes in a small non-stick frying pan over medium heat until light golden on each side. Serve warm with the chocolate sauce and icing sugar over the top.

Makes 20.

And so do college students write papers and study dismally-long hours in the library – running on caffeine and satisfied junk-food cravings, or the occasional crepe at Cafe Bonaparte when you have the time/money for brunch!

Both are savory; must come back for a sweet crepe some day.

My Florentine crepe – Roma tomatoes, pine nuts and pesto, caramelized onions, parsley, Ricotta cheese:

Rachel’s Wellington crepe, with black forest ham and cheddar cheese:

The big Thanksgiving meal is over, the dishes are done and the tryptophan induced nap has been taken. Now, what?

How about turning all of that leftover turkey into something a bit more inspiring than a sandwich? Here is a simple recipe for crepes, with several ideas for fillings. Let you imagination and your leftovers lead the way……

Turkey Crepes

for the batter:

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs

vegetable oil (not olive oil!) for frying the crepes

Put all ingredients into the blender and mix until completely blended.

Let it stand in the refrigerator to thicken slightly, to become the consisitancy of heavy cream. If the batter becomes too thick, add a little more milk.

Brush  a small frying pan or crepe pan with oil and heat on the stove. Add a little batter to the hot pan, and swirl it until it is covered. You want as thin a crepe as possible. When the crepe is dry on top and the bottom is slightly brown, flip it over carelfully. Consider the first crepe or two a trial, as you figure out the correct pan temperature and the amount of batter needed. They are actually quite easy to make, once you get the hang of it!

Filling ideas:

Saute  minced garlic and mushrooms until soft and browned. Sprinkle with flour and continue to saute until vegetables are coated. Add 1 can of chicken broth and a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of heavy cream to the pan, and stir until thickened slightly.Toss in a shot of sherry if desired. Add in shredded turkey, and season liberally with salt and pepper. Top with a little shredded gruyere cheese.

Shred turkey and mix with gravy.

Shred turkey and cranberry sauce.

Saute garlic, onions and vegetables of choice (broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms etc,) Add in the shredded turkey and some shredded cheese of choice (cheddar,  gruyere or parmesean). Top with the shredded cheese before baking.

To bake:

Place filling in crepe about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. Roll the crepe tightly but gently so it doesn’ tear.  Place in a greased oven proof pan and heat through.

Enjoy!

photo: Spencer Jones/Glasshouse Images

I’m going to keep the chatting to a minimum and just show you a photo tour of our Thanksgiving this year. Enjoy!

It all started with a donut from Madeline Bistro.

The phillet no phish sandwich, Thanksgiving sandwich (which is pretty much all you could ever want from Thanksgiving), mashed potatoes and gravy.

Vanishing meal. Also consumed: biscuits & gravy, crepes filled with fruit. All amazing.

Visiting turkeys from Animal Acres. Luckily these guys will live long happy lives instead of being abused and murdered this Thanksgiving. Yeah, I said that.

Homemade pumpkin soy nog. My mom made this! I think that’s pretty awesome.

When making a pie, it is absolutely necessary to make a mess. It makes it taste better, I promise.

Best way to work up an appetite before Thanksgiving dinner. Okay so it was a rather leisurely ride to the beach. We were rewarded with a gorgeous sunset.

Brussels sprouts with capers. Oh how I love brussels sprouts.

Perfectly fluffy and wonderful mashed potatoes whipped up by Shawn. He also made fabulous gravy to go on top.

There’s that apple pie! All baked up with the infamous crumbly top. This is the last thing I stuffed in my face today.

Happy Thanksgiving! (p.s. Shawn does not like to smile in photos. He really is having a good time, don’t let the serious face fool you.)

This morning I woke up around 8, and had an oat-y breakfast!

1/2 C oats

1/2 C soymilk

1 TBS Almond Butter

1 banana

When I was done with that, I was still hungry, so I helped myself to a bowl of Multigrain Cheerios w/ some 2% milk (not pictured…)

The rest of the morning was filled with a substantial amount of studying.  I’m 3/4 of the way done with my other take home test!  I also went around the kitchen taking pictures of all the food we have in our refridgerater and counter tops…

Guess how much that turkey weighs?  26 pounds! How perfect for the 26th of November…

Around 11:30 I left to go meet my sister and Jess for a 6 miler.  I took a Cliff Bar with me, and ate it on the way!

When I got to Steff’s place, I was STILL hungry.  I think that Cliff Bars are yummy, but they just don’t fill me up like a piece of bread and PB does.  And that’s exactly what I ate when I got to her place, along with a couple handfuls of PB filled pretzels!

The run around Lake Union went well, we averaged about a 9 minute mile, including about 3 minutes of stair climbing and stretching.  When we got back to her place, I finished my last bowl of turkey chili that I brought over, along with a scoop of her TJ’s gnocchi and chicken sausage!

This afternoon my sister and I went shopping at Pacific Place.  We walked around downtown and went to J Crew, Express, Nordstrom, and H&M, and  I ended up getting 2 zip-up sweatshirts from Express, along with a cool black and white top from H&M.  We both went with a budget in mind and never went above it, yay!

Since we walked from my sister’s place to the shopping center, we had to walk back (we didn’t want to pay for a cab…).   We passed by this crepe place and had to stop and get something…we split a “Ham”.  Herb butter, swiss cheese, ham, and spinach!

When get got back to Steff’s place, the power was out!  So, we went around lighting candles.  And as soon as they all were lit, the power came back on   We were sad that we had to blow them all out, but excited to have power back!

That’s what happens when you try to use your crappy camera to take pictures in the dark….

I had to pick up a few random things for thanksgiving lunch tomorrow (marshmallows, soda and evaporated milk).  When I got home I saw pizza that my mom made!  So, I helped myself to 2 slices…

And now i’m FULL.  Which sucks because I had big plans to eat lots tomorrow…but that won’t stop me from trying   AND, i’m doing push-ups tomorrow.  260 to be exact!  However, i’m going to spread them throughout the day, so my sister can do them with me.  YAY!  We’re doing a short run tomorrow morning, so we’ll do a few sets of push-ups before and after the run.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!  And happy 4 year anniversary to me and Ezra.  Love you EZ!

It’s hard to know what to eat the day before Thanksgiving.  Some people eat light, others fast; in my family, we eat crepes.

This morning, we headed up to Maine to spend Thanksgiving with my wonderful father-in-law and friends at Hedgehog Hill Farm in Sumner, Maine.  My husband grew up here and for me, the cozy farmhouse symbolizes the warmth of the family I recently joined.

Hmmm batter. Photo: Jessica Alpert

Food is always central to our visit.  We spend time preparing meals together in the kitchen….or at least staying warm near the stove.   Hedgehog Hill still generates beautiful produce and herbs; we definitely benefited from its bounty today.

Freshly thawed wild raspberries picked at Hedgehog Hill. Photo: Jessica Alpert

After we pulled into the circular drive and walked up the creaking stairs, we saw the kitchen was already prepped for a lunch of crepes.  With locally grown raspberries.  And fresh homemade apple sauce. And sour cream. And yogurt.

Divine.

Crepe-in-the-making. Photo: Jessica Alpert

Thought I’d share a few pictures from our first meal in Vacationland (forgive the IPhone quality).  If you want the recipe, tell me about your favorite crepe fillings….and I’ll post our delicious version.

Getting closer. Photo: Jessica Alpert

Happy Turkey or Tofurkey to all.

Mark Silber with the finished product. Photo: Jessica Alpert

My Grandmother Agnes (my Mom’s mother) was a gentle Lithuanian woman who possessed an enormous heart in addition to being beautiful and intelligent. If she had been born in a later generation she would no doubt have become a successful profession since she possessed an abundance of brains and charisma.

Being born just after World War I her life path was set to be a loving mother and homemaker. Although she worked during World War II in a factory, while my Grandfather was serving his country, she was forced back into her traditional matriarchal role after the boys returned home from Europe.

Shortly after World War II she gave birth to my Mother and a few years later to my Mom’s brother Bill. It wasn’t until my Mom was in High School when my Grandmother completed her quartet of children with another boy (Ron) and girl (Karen).

Her devotion as a mother was never more evident than when she was blessed with a handful of Grandchildren. I like to think, looking back on it, that I was her favorite since she used to babysit me many days after pre-school or kindergarten.

Unfortunately my memories of her remain a blur as she passed away about twenty years ago from emphysema around the time I was five. Over the years I have pieced together vague memories, along with stories my Mom and others have told me, to form a clearer picture of what she was like in my head.

Although this image is largely constructed from other people’s memories I can still remember going over to her house with my Mom and playing war (the card game) for long periods of time when she was confined to her bed due to declining health.

Other than that recollection of the two of us playing cards, the only other memory that I have of her that I feel a sense of ownership of is eating her food. I can remember her making cottage cheese pancakes, potato kugel, crepes and blintzes, and how I used to sit at her kitchen table stuffing my face, loving each bite of these old world culinary delights.

The hardest part of this reminiscence for me is that I can’t replicate the tastes and smells that used to emanate from her kitchen. My Mom and I have made cottage cheese pancakes and crepes that have tasted great, but in my heart I knew they just weren’t the same as when she used to prepare them.

Last night I was strolling down the freezer isle of the Sweetbay Supermarket that is located just down the street from my house at the corner of Winkler and Gladiolous when a bright yellow box caught my eye. When I opened the freezer door to get a clearer look at the description of this product I realized that the slim box contained six cheese blintzes.

Since I can’t remember the last time I had cheese blintzes I excitedly snatched a box off the shelf and had no problem forking over the $2.99 required to purchase this specialty item. After consulting my Mom for instructions on the proper way to cook them, and frying them up in a little butter and oil I was ready to dive into my first bite of blintz bliss.

With that initial mouthful I was transported back to my childhood and thoughts of my Grandmother’s cooking. Unfortunately these memories only left me feeling sad that although these blintzes tasted good, they weren’t my Grandmother’s.

In the end the most tragic part of this experience for me wasn’t that I missed my Grandmother, since I still feel her presence in my life, it was the fact that she passed away before I was old enough to truly get to know her. Therefore, it breaks my heart that I knew her for such a short period of time that I can’t remember how her blintzes tasted, only how they don’t.

For anyone who knows my husband Dave, you know that it not easy to embarrass him. Crazy story about Dave? He’ll tell you five more about himself. An embarrassing photo? Well, we have those all categorized in photo albums. An awkward situation? Dave can create those with finesse and style to the mortification of anyone in the room. When I told him what I was writing about tonight, he rolled his eyes and started laughing with embarrassment. So what did I do?

I got up in front of 400 people this morning at church and professed my love for him. For the past three weeks, our church has been doing a series on sexuality. Married sex, single sexuality, chastity, the whole gamut of how we as humans, as Olivia Newton John once sung:

I wonder what the guy on the treadmill looks like?

“Let’s get physical, physical! I wanna get physical”

Occasionally we pass the mic around our sanctuary for a “joys and concerns” time to hear how prayers are being answered and to know how to pray for and support on another in difficult times. You’ll hear anything from people talking about God giving them hope as they go through AA, to people praying that God would provide a job, to people weeping with thanksgiving for how their family has been cared for as a spouse has gone through chemo therapy.

I normally don’t feel compelled to get up during these times, in fact usually I’m a little taken aback by how honest and vulnerable so many people are about the things they’re thankful for or what they need prayer for. But for whatever reason when I heard that the mic would be passed, I felt my heart begin to thump with the familiar sensation I have when God is urging me to do something that would be simultaneously uncomfortable, wonderful, and stretching.

As the mic was passed down the row to me Dave gave me a look like “what are you going to talk about?”  I got up and shared about how thankful I was for God’s goodness to me through my husband. How this morning when our son got up early he got up with him and let me sleep in until 10:30. I don’t remember the last time I slept so long! Not only did he take care of Reuben and let me sleep in, I came downstairs to freshly made crepes. Banana chocolate crepes, savory egg and cheese crepes, and a delicious strawberry/peach/apple crepe from some leftover pie filling. I felt so loved and cared for that I couldn’t help but share how blessed I was. I debated about getting up and sharing this because I know there are many people at a tough place in their marriage & hearing things like this can potentially make people feel worse. I also debated about it because things like this don’t happen everyday in our marriage- and I didn’t want to paint our relationship like it’s always a cakewalk. The funny thing was that I didn’t debate about whether it would embarrass Dave or not- I knew it might & that he would potentially be called “crepe-man” by people in our congregation. But, I just couldn’t help myself from sharing how thankful I am for him! So, for any married ladies who read my blog- see how red in the face your husband gets the next time you sing his praises!

yeah, the crepes looked this delicious.

What about Crepes on the Corner?

After 14thandYou broke the news that Garden District was filing for bankruptcy, they made a point to mention that Garden District’s new venture, Crepes on the Corner, wouldn’t be affected. Yet when I walked by over the weekend, the sign that had been up announcing Crepes on the Corner is coming soon was gone, and a sign for office space for lease was up.

More Internet research showed that I was right, there will be no Crepes on the Corner. A post up on the Garden District listserv announced that the owners of Garden District (I assume) couldn’t come to an agreement “regarding the formation of the operating agreement and LLC.” So the space is up for rent.

So the crepe wars on 14th street are over before they began.

Grandma Nikander’s Swedish Pancakes have been one of my favorite delicacies since the late ’60s.  Naively, I assumed it was a secret family recipe brought across the pond by scarf-donning ancestors, handed down and down and down to my Grandma in Eastern Oregon.  It probably was handed down, but I learned later in life that other people call them crepes… and eat them for every meal of the day…. and they aren’t very secret.  I vaguely remember visiting my Grandma in her later years, when she was no longer able to make her Swedish pancakes.  I thought the world had come to an end.  Little did I know that I would be standing over the stove flipping them for another 70 years.

My youngest son requests these drool-producing paper-thin pancakes at least once a week.  They are also a family favorite of the next generation, and to no surprise….. they are mouth-wateringly delicious.  They are a tad on the sweet side, yet airy and light…. I prefer them slathered in melted butter and sprinkled in powdered sugar.  We leave them rolled up…. always.  My boys pour maple syrup on them, but my daughter follows my powdery taste for sugary goodness.

I’ll even share the secret Swedish Pancake recipe!

In a blender mix: 3 eggs (without shells), 2 cups of milk, 2 Tbsp Sugar, dash salt, and 1 cup of flour.  I have used whole wheat flour, but honestly, they taste better with the white not-as-good-for-you-bleached-flour. 

Heat a non-stick frying pan to med-high heat.  I use #6.  Butter the pan before each pancake.  My soup ladle measures out the perfect amount of batter to cover the bottom of the pan.  I have to pick up the pan and swirl it to get a perfect circle.  When the surface of the batter is no longer shiny, flip the pancake.  When lightly browned, roll up and serve…. quick.

A perfect pancake for Thanksgiving morning.  Try it.  You’ll like it.

Another guest post from the dear MD.  Technically I was there too, but clearly she gets all the credit because all I did was cut some chocolate up.

Peanut Butter Blondies

4-5 TBS butter, almost melted
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Creamy)
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used a combination of Dark Chocolate and White chocolate chunks, but really you can put whatever you want in them)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8×8 pan parchment paper.  LEAVE ENOUGH PAPER hanging over the edge in order to pull the brownies out later to cool.

In a medium microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter for 20-30 seconds until almost/all melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Stir the peanut butter into the butter until creamy and smooth.

Add the brown sugar to the butter/peanut butter and stir until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine.  Add the flour, baking powder add salt to the peanut butter mixture and stir just to combine. Gently fold in chocolate chips and any other additions.
Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula (or greasy hand) to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until set in the middle.
Cool in pan and then on rack before cutting.

Chocolate Hazelnut Smoochies

These are from Giada De Laurentis, who normally I adore.   There are no pictures of them, due to a slightly moderate amount of disaster….fixed later into deliciousness…but then subsequently eaten.   Nutella is super yummy in everything I feel…

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella)
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup orange sprinkles, or orange sugar (um yeah, no, skip these)
1 (9-ounce) package of chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped (recommended: Hershey’s)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, place the chocolate hazelnut spread, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.

Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls.  Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.  (I recommend cooking for less time, because they get rather crunchy)

Tortino di Crespelle alla Maura!

Maura basically made this one up, but it was RIDICULOUSLY good, as most things with egg, ham, and cheese tend to be….

Tough cookies, but you’ll need to do the conversions because we are full and not in the mood to do so…

The Crepes:

100 grams – flour

2 eggs

5 dl – milk

Mix the flour and milk slowly to avoid lumpage.  Add the eggs and whisk.  Let sit for 15 minutes…or an hour.

Look up on internet how to cook the crepes.  It’s too much to type, but basically you cook them like really thin pancakes.

The Filling:

1/2 cup or so of dried crimini mushrooms, soaked (or one cup of chopped fresh mushrooms)

200 grams or cubed ham (or more if you’re Dan)

Olive oil

Garlic

Salt and Pepper

Saute the mushrooms and ham with the cloves of garlic in olive oil (remove the garlic later).  Season as needed.

The Cheese Sauce:

250 grams or so of Taleggio cheese

150 grams – Grated Parmesan cheese

Enough milk to melt the cheese

1 egg yolk

Butter (to coat the crepe pan)

Simmer milk and cheese over low flame stirring constantly until the cheese has melted.  Let cool, and then add yolk, stirring carefully to avoid scrambling.

Once all three segments are done, layer them in a 9″ round.   Start with a crepe, add the filling, a ladle cheese sauce, grated parmesan, and then another crepe, finishing with crepe-cheese sauce-grated cheese.  Bake in 350 degree oven until the top has browned…15-20 minutes.     Have a carb-gasm, and whip out your Carb-Comfy Pants™.

Surprise surprise it’s raining AGAIN! So today I thought I’d let you in on some of my favourite rainy day recipes.

CRÊPES WITH SPINACH AND RICOTTA

A popular Florentine dish as a lasagne substitute. Crêpes are much lighter than pasta and have a delicate flavour. They work just as well with a cream, vegetable or a meat sauce filling.

Crêpes
2 eggs
±1/2-1 cup milk
2T olive oil, plus extra for frying
Pinch salt
1 cup flour, sifted

Filling
600g (2 packets) spinach, trimmed
150g ricotta
2T grated parmesan/pecorino cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Salt

Sauce
2T butter
1/2 cup flour
4-5 cups milk
3T grated parmesan/pecorino cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crêpes

1. Whisk the eggs in a bowl until well blended. Add the milk, the olive oil and salt. Gradually mix in the flour. The batter should be smooth and have the consistency of cream (add extra milk if necessary).
2. Brush a ±15cm nonstick frying pan with oil and place over moderate heat. Pour in just enough batter to create a very thin sheet when the pan is tilted. Cook for ±1 minute until the edges lift easily. Turn the crêpe and cook the other side for ±30 seconds. Transfer to a flat surface (plate) to cool. Continue until the batter is finished. There should be ±12 crêpes in all. (They can also be made ahead and frozen.)

Filling

1. Preheat an oven to 180°C. Cook the spinach in a little salted boiling water until tender, ±2 minutes. Drain well, pressing out any excess liquid, and finely chop.
2. Mix the spinach, ricotta, cheese, egg and nutmeg in a bowl. Season to taste with salt.
3. Spoon ±1T filling in a line down the centre of each crêpe and roll up. Place them seam side down, on a plate.

Sauce

1. In a small saucepan over moderate heat, melt the butter. Add the flour, and blend well, stirring consistently for ±3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk, gradually so as not to form lumps. Once all the milk is incorporated, return to the heat and continue to stir until the sauce has thickened.
2. Remove from the heat and add the parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Pour enough sauce into a shallow baking dish to form a thin layer on the base. Arrange the crêpes side by side, seam side down on top of the sauce. Spoon the remaining sauce over the crêpes (at this stage, the dish can be covered with clingfilm and kept in the fridge).
4. Bake until the sauce bubbles slightly and the crêpes are heated through, ±20 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Traditional Ox Tail Stew

Ingredients:

2 KGs ox tail (or beef tail or lamb neck)

4 cups beef stock

2 cups red wine

1 sml tin tomato paste

2 teaspoon salt

2 chopped onions

2 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 cup shallots (minced)

2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 cup celery (chopped)

6 carrots (cleaned and cut up)

Braise to brown the Ox Tail in olive oil . When fully browned add beef stock, red wine, and salt. Sauté separately the onions, garlic, shallots, thyme, parsley, celery and carrots. Add sautéed vegetables to meat mixture, stir to blend, pour into casserole dish and bake for approximately 2 hours or until meat is tender. Serve with black bread and butter over white rice.  Garnish with fresh coriander.

Malva Pudding Recipe
Serves 6-8

1 heaped tablespoon butter
3 heaped tablespoons apricot jam
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ cup sugar
½ cup milk

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the beaten egg and jam and beat together. Add the dry ingredients and milk alternately and stir into the mixture. Pour the batter into a greased round dish approx 21cm / 8 inches. Cover either with a lid or tinfoil and bake at 180C / 375F for 30 minutes until the top is browned and a skewer comes out clean. Serve warm with custard and cream.

If you would like to try the rich and more traditional version of Malva Pudding, and I think it should be done once in a while, here is a recipe for the sauce to drench it in as soon as it leaves the oven.

MALVA TOPPING
1 cup (250ml) fresh cream
½ cup (125g) butter and ½ cup (125ml) white sugar
½ cup (125ml) fresh orange juice or medium cream sherry

Boil all the ingredients together for 2 minutes and pour over the pudding as it comes out of the oven. You can prick holes in the top to help the sauce soak in.  Then serve with fresh cream or ice-cream.

Well this wont stop the rain, but it most definately will leave you feeling cosy and warm!

Enjoy!

…where Tara and Friends make food and play appropriate music! 

This is a proto version of what should, sometime soon, become a live radio show and a series of videos.  As soon as we find a camera.  And fix the phone-in thing at the radio station. But for now, you can see a few shots, cook the recipes, and enjoy the playlist (see footnote 1)
Our first Cooking with Playlists began like this: after work, I went to Molly’s house (remember her from the baked alaska dinner party?) and we made my very favorite chicken marsala, with purple mashed potatoes.

Look how purple!

Then, because our friend had left his Nutella in Molly’s fridge, we made crepes.  The music began when I began telling Molly we had to whip our crepe batter a lot so the resulting crepes would be light and lovely.  Molly asked, Isn’t there a song that goes “whip it?”  And after we whipped it, we wondered if there wasn’t a song called “Flip It” and then things got French and we ended up at creepy Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg on a bed together….

…Thus Cooking with Playlists! was born!

Recipes:

Chicken Marsala

This is based somewhat off this Real Simple recipe.  What’s really special (and non-traditional.  and delicious.) about this recipe is the use of capers.  When it comes to capers, I’m not sure you can have too many, and my version reflects this.  I’ve used the proscuitto once and it is really delicious, but never felt the need to run out and get fresh sage (who has fresh sage?) and can say that the fresh parsley made little difference.  Additionally, I think the mushrooms and cream I add are just extra happiness.  Who does not need extra happiness?

What to do:

Whole Wheat Crepes

We used this recipe and trust me, despite all the bad-talking you’ve heard about whole wheat flour, these are really, really delicious.  And don’t worry– making crepes really isn’t hard.  Once you get the hang of how hot the pan should be and how and when to flip them, it’s nothing.  You want a hint?  Flip them when there are bubbles.

Playlist:

Whip It by Devo
Flip It Like a JD by Joey Moe
Tout les Garcons et les Filles by Francoise Hardy
Je T’aime Moi Non Plus by Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
Lemon Incest by Serge Gainsbourg with Charlotte Gainsbourg

Footnote 1- The playlist totally does not play for full cooking time. …But it’s not called “Playlists and Cooking,” is it?

Footnote 2- You know, season your flour however you want.  Salt and pepper are good.  I usually add a little cayanne (to everything.)  Lawry’s is awesome.  Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika are all good, too.  The main point is to season your flour.

Footnote 3- Cooking lesson time!  Using a combination of olive oil and butter is the very best way to panfry things.  It has a scientific explanation.  I may look it up later, but for now, just believe me.

Footnote 4-Sometimes the cream looks curdle-y.  I think if you stir quickly, you can avoid this, but the truth is that it tastes good anyways and when spooned on the chicken isn’t so noticeable.  I imagine the obscene amount of capers I use has something to do with it.

What is it about crepes that people love?  I guess it’s not an item people would make at home too often.  I guess it requires some technique, but it’s not exactly rocket science either.  It’s flour, eggs, milk and water; mix them together and pour into a hottish pan.  Wallllah! 

Crepes. What's the big fuss?

“Monk” loves crepes.  I have no idea why, but she does.  When we used to live in the West End, there was a restaurant called La  Bretagne Creperie that she truly adored.  Since it was her birthday week, she requested crepes and being a good husband, I acquiesced.  I don’t know why I’m not fond of crepes, I don’t mind them, I just don’t go ga-ga for them.   “Godfather” helped me out and  threw together a simple crepe batter for me the day before.  Being the organizational freak that I am, I also put together  the “mise en place”  for the crepes I was making for the next day’s lunch. 

First we had a crepe with duck leg confit, chanterelles, double smoked bacon and a fried chicken egg.  Not exactly light fare, but very tasty.  The runny egg yolk is nature’s best sauce.  Everything is better with a fried egg on top.  I liked the filling a lot, so did “Monk”.   Her complaint was the crepes were a touch eggy and not crispy enough.  She was right on both counts, but I also never claimed to be a crepe master.  Next, we had a crepe with a Provencal lamb shank ragout.  Olives, capers, tomato, anchovy and some braised lamb.  The filling was very rich and perfect for a rainy and cool November day.   For dessert, we had a couple of lemon and sugar crepes to finish the multi-course crepe meal.   “So simple, so delicious.” 

Well that’s it for crepes.  I don’t think I’ll be making them at home for a while.  Maybe not till November 2010.   When I go back to Tapenade on Wednesday, I’ve got a special assignment for “Fat Joel,” to help me develop a new seafood crepe for the January lunch menu.  I can hear his excitement, all the way from the man cave in Coquitlam.

I did it. I took crepes from my dad.

Yes, you heard correctly. 52 pairs of shoes, one per week, for a year. FREE.

Go here to enter the competition… you have until Christmas Eve to enter!! Good luck!

James

Ever fantasize about a ménage à trois with Annette, Claire and Jessica? Or maybe Shannon, Liz or Melinda are more your taste. Now, you don’t have to choose because there is a great variety of women just waiting for you to try them in midtown Detroit.

But if you’re looking for sex, you’re in the wrong location. Because at Good Girls Go to Paris, you’re only going to find the finest in crepes.

Liz: strawberries, blueberries and nutella

The crepes come in both sweet and savory varieties, making this an ideal location for Brunch. However, Good Girls’ hours accommodate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a late dessert. You have a choice of 20 different crepe varieties named after women, from somewhat tames Leslie (wildberry jam and butter), to the more adventurous Jeanette (prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil and herb de provence) to the exotically Frenchy Pascalle (chevre and fig jam).

Another thing to be noted about the crepes is that they are quite large. This is good if you’re looking for a big, filling meal, but I warn you, you may not be able to finish the whole thing. But fear not, they offer to-go boxes.

Good Girls Go to Paris is a fun location to eat. Not only is it in close proximity to the art museum so you can pair French food with French art, the staff is cute and friendly in their French maid uniforms (one staffer wore them with green rainboots). If you happen to be in midtown, you have no excuse to check this out.

And while you’re checking things out, take a look at this video about Good Girls Go to Paris’ downtown location:

The Turning Point in Pier Village really is a new brunch experience.  Most people have either heard of it or tried it before.  Since moving to Long Branch about a year and a half ago, I’ve dined there close to a dozen times – for breakfast, lunch, and everything in between .

If you’ve been or have driven or stolled by, you’ve seen the mass of people waiting outside on the sidewalk every Saturday and Sunday.  This is no joke.  As long as it’s not raining, people wait en masse for their favorite dish or perhaps to try something completely new.

TP has a huge menu, offering everything from classic French toast to a tasty turkey reuben melt.  And to wash it all down, their beverage menus are nearly as extensive as the food menus.  For a refreshing accompaniment to any meal, try their homemade specialty iced teas or freshly squeezed orange juice or lemonade.  Feeling lik e a kid again?  Try the Banana Whip Smoothie or Root Beer Float.

The coffee and tea menu is simply awesome.  TP serves coffee for the table European style in your very own French press.  The hot tea menu is simply exotic and silk tea bags are served in a personal piping-hot tea pot.  My two personal faves are Macau Mango with Lemon and Mandarin Cinnamon.

The menu is too big and great to review here, but my highlights for healthy eating are the ‘Good and Good For You’ Breakfast section and the huge Sensational Salads for lunch.  If I had to pick one breakfast item and one lunch item I would have to say the Crabcake Eggs Benedict for breakfast and the Shrimp Salad Stack for lunch – both amazing!

And finally, here’s the super-secret insider tip.  Well, not really secret because there’s a sign on the door, but still, not many people know about it!  TP offers call-ahead seating.  On a Saturday or Sunday, especially in the summer, we’ll call ahead and are usually told the wait is 45-60 minutes.  So we’ll get ready, pack our beach bags, and hop on our cruisers.  By the time we’re there, we walk right in and sit down.  I love being a local!

Fancy French name?  La Creperie’s got that covered, complete with a three-paragraph history of the crêpe and the sweet couple who started the restaurant on the menu.  This presumably overlooked detail was a delightful compliment to my six cups of coffee while I waited for my friends, er, co-workers on this cloudy, crisp Tuesday morning-turned-afternoon.

Latest possible brunch before the noon hour is something was can also check off our list after this visit to La Creperie.  My crew seems to have a difficult time getting out of bed when their jobs don’t hinge on it, so even as breakfast from weeks ago has been pushed back from 10:00am to 11:30am, we ordered our crêpes at 12:30 in the afternoon, setting a new precedent for “breakfast” in Urban America.

Our sweet waitress was patient and attentive.  If she thought I was flaky when I couldn’t tell her how many of my friends would wake up and join me for breakfast, she didn’t show it and described her favorite crêpes to me instead.  Much appreciated, mademoiselle. 

When we finally did eat, everything tasted great.  The crêpes were folded into rectangles and filled with savory mixtures of curry chicken or goat cheese and tomatoes.  The dough had more of a wheat taste than the heavier egg crêpes that I made over the summer with my missionary friends, but I was happy with both varieties.  I’m a sucker for sweet things, so even in its simplicity, I think my favorite was the sweet crêpe we snacked on for dessert – butter, sugar, lemon-covered.  Mmm.

The décor in this cozy little French café was inviting.  We were the anomaly among dark cherry wood walls, decorative plates hanging above the bar and in open china cabinets all around us.  The tables were sturdy and stained in old mismatched colors.  The place had character, which I suppose is what we both had in common. 

So bring your sleepiest co-workers and GO.