The ultimate in comfort food, these crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside little sweet potato cakes are the latkes great cousin. Super simple and consisting of about 5 ingredients, you just can’t go wrong. Top them with anything from lox to caviar, guacamole to a fried egg- the possibilities are endless.
Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi‘s recipe, I have simply made a gluten free version with a zippy lemon-chile yogurt sauce. I’ve been cooking with sweet potatoes a lot lately as baby Mav just loves them, he’s my kinda guy. Ottolenghi is a huge inspiration, his cookbooks make vegetables look as exciting as skydiving off Mount Corcovado.
It’s sunny and beautiful out and the massive pile of snow is swiftly melting down, the igloo J built has caved in on itself and winter seems to be dissipating for the time being. So I’m going to keep this short and sweet, just like these little cakes, and go for a jaunt in Vitamin D land out there.
A 5 ft pile of snow greeted us upon arriving home 2 days ago, since then we’ve been pleasantly nestled in our little home insulated with fresh powder. It feels so good to be home, our vacation in the city was wonderful but coming back to stillness and the scent of wood burning just feels right. Who would’ve thought a prairie girl would feel so comforted in the hands of mother mountain. The powers only gone out a handful of times since we got back and though you always think a million things will have changed in 2 weeks, everything remains the same. Aside from baby Mav nearly walking, yes at 9 months he is walking with the help of kitchen chairs and the mini car that his grandma got him. I’m not ready for this, it’s all happened so fast. A year ago he was a mere little bump, today he is an endlessly curious ball of energy. We tried our hand at mom and baby yoga class. Discovered that this is ideal for babies who aren’t yet movers and shakers. It was fun none the less, but I don’t think my boy is the next Iyengar.
Coming home to an empty fridge and belly is both daunting and exciting. I hate waste so I always make sure that everything perishable is enjoyed before leaving for a trip. If not, I give it all away, because there’s nothing worse than returning home to moldy kale leaves. Now we restock, oh what fun. Unfortunately we are relatively snowed in and a trip to town isn’t high on the list of priorities. After driving for 15 hours there must be at least a 3 day reprieve, at least. Simple comfort foods do the trick in this instance, and today this jalapeño and bacon cream of mushroom soup really hit the nail on the head. It’s dead simple, really, I don’t even have any chicken stock made so I had to opt for water and flavourful additions like smoky bacon, crispy garlic chips and a bit of kick with the jalapeño. I am in love, so is J, normally he is considerate and leaves me a little after the second serving but today he gobbled up all the leftovers and left not a crumb. Whatever. You can definitely make this soup paleo friendly by using coconut cream instead of heavy cream. I hope you love this decadent mushroom soup as much as I do.
1½ lb mushrooms (whatever types available to you), sliced
1 Tbs butter or ghee
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp thyme
½ tsp fresh cracked pepper
3 C water
1½ C heavy cream or 1½ C coconut cream
3 cloves garlic, sliced
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
Instructions
In a large pot melt the butter and add chopped onion, when onion is translucent, add mushrooms (save a handful), thyme, salt and pepper and allow this to cook down for a few minutes.
In a skillet or frying pan, add the chopped bacon and let it release some fat before adding garlic, jalapeño and a handful of sliced mushrooms. Let the bacon get nice and crispy and the mushrooms golden brown.
When the mushrooms and onions have cooked down, add water and cream and simmer for a few minutes. Using a hand mixer or transferring to a blender until smooth and creamy.
Serve the soup with a generous helping of crispy bacon, garlic and jalapeño and enjoy.
Hey guys, woweeee it’s officially 2015, happy new year to you all and I hope it’s the best yet! I’ve seen a lot of talk around of people starting their cleanses and whole 30 resets come January so I thought I would start the year off with a delicious salad recipe suitable for any of your new years challenges. I myself really need to give my adrenals a break and stop drinking so much coffee. Aside from that, I’ve really questioned my belief in setting new years resolutions this year. Every day is an opportunity to set goals and make changes. Every moment a chance to change and improve.
It’s been awhile since I made a real shin diggery of a new years affair. Last night was no different, though we did have a little dance party with classic hits on much more retro, kool and the gang anyone? When we got close to midnight my dad tried to turn on Dicks countdown but instead got stuck on some interactive channel where you find santa, the credits were already playing by the time we got to the right channel. Kisses and hugs and a tired baby wondering why everyones clobbering him ensued. We’ve been having such a wonderful visit with the family, I came here prepared to be productive but it’s all fallen to the wayside. Food photography on location isn’t our strong suit but hey, it’s a learning curve. We have been eating some amazing food, including a brined turkey, which I wanted to post on but it got gobbled up too fast to take any photos. I will recreate it to share, promise, it was just too good not to.
This salad is super simple and it has all those lovely pad thai flavours. Normally when I make this dressing I add all sorts of thai flare like lemongrass and fish sauce but here at my parents those ingredients weren’t so handy, so I simplified it and it’s still delicious. There’s a huge snow storm today so our trip home has been postponed until further notice. In the meantime I’ll just imagine i’m perusing the amazing food markets of Thailand.
Just a little ditty that you might want to save for a special dinner, new years perhaps? I love scallops and seldom indulge, but once in awhile I can’t help myself. I pull into the parking lot where the resident fish bus is parked and load up on the good stuff from the coast. J despises the fact that anyone sells fish out of a school bus, so I make sure to go when he’s not with me. It’s not like the guys got salmon filets on the unwashed seats of school kids, I mean it’s all gutted and filled with freezers, what’s the big deal?
There are really so many ways to become enamoured with these little ocean morsels, seared, covered in butter and salt and pepper is my preferred method, super simple is sometimes best. You could serve these beauties with a nice mash, or grilled veggies, some steamed spinach and thick balsamic glaze or of course crispy shallots and sautéed kale with tamari.
So our celebrations are complete, we rang in the solstice with gift giving and a wonderful meal. J got me two handmade Japanese knives that are sharper than a serpents tooth. I mean they are the sharpest knives I’ve ever used, I barely touched a cucumber and it sliced right through. So now I’m trying to come up with a dish that involves copious amounts of finely chopped vegetables to show off the majesty of these knives. Any suggestions? Too bad I made french onion soup with ten onions last week with my incredibly dull knives.
Perfect Seared Scallops with Crispy Shallots and Kale
Author: Chantelle
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
10 scallops
1 Tbs+1 tsp clarified butter or ghee
1 tsp olive oil or coconut oil
salt+pepper
1 bunch kale, finely chopped
1 tsp tamari
1 shallot, very finely sliced
Instructions
Thoroughly dry the scallops and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper, heat a cast iron pan and add the clarified butter and oil, when it starts to smoke add the scallops, don't overcrowd the pan. Cook scallops for approx. 2 minutes per side, depending on their size it may take a bit less or more time. Refrain from turning unnecessarily as they won't brown up as nicely.
In a separate frying pan, heat up some more oil or clarified butter and add the shallot. Fry until crispy, add the kale and tamari and cover for 2 minutes until kale is nice and soft.
French onion soup can’t come from a packet, it cannot be had by a chemical laden powder. It’s essence is steeped with time and a wack load of onions which all melt down to practically nothing. There’s a reason why it’s french, the slow caramelization process is one which only the french could invent. Tried and true this recipe is one that my Grandmother taught me when I was about 10. It’s more of a technique than it is a recipe really. You can’t just fry up some onions and add stock, the depth of flavour comes from a long and slow all day melt down of the onions, perfect for a sunday afternoon or a start in the morning while the grass still clings to its frosty sleeve. Feel like you need a good cry but you just can’t let it out? French onion soup to the rescue, drown your sorrows while twelve onions force the raw emotion out of you, and then just let it melt away, allow the release just like the onions. You’ll see the volume of your onions wilt to 1/4 of their original fullness, what a great example they set.
Tomorrow morning we embark on a journey of epic proportions. A visit to the frozen wasteland of soviet like architecture, dear old Edmonton. While I’m happy to no longer live there, I adore my family and cannot wait to spend time with them. This year we’re having a solstice celebration before my brother and his fiancee depart for her families place. It’s baby Mavs first road trip so my fingers are crossed that he doesn’t learn how to unbuckle himself, as he has adeptly shown in the past. My outstanding procrastination skills have brought me here to this moment where its more important to write about classic french onion soup than it is to pack and get ready. I don’t care, I work best under pressure anyway.
1 baguette sliced and toasted (I used spelt sourdough) (optional)
½ C grated gruyere cheese
½ C grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
In a large, heavy bottomed pot, melt the butter or ghee and add the onions,thyme and bay leaf. Stir and allow them to cook down for at least 3 hours, stirring every so often. Near the end give them a colour boost by amping up the heat for a few minutes and stirring continually.
With the heat on high, add the red wine and allow the alcohol to evaporate, cooking on high for about 2 minutes.
Add the beef stock, salt and pepper to taste and let it all come to a simmer.
Ladle to hot soup into 4 oven proof bowls, set oven to broil.
Top each bowl with a few pieces of toasted baguette and a generous amout of cheese. Place bowls on a baking tray in case of spillage and bake under the broiler until golden brown.
Those days when you wake up and realize the house is an absolute disaster, the plants are thirsty, the dust bunnies are about to come alive and yet all I want to do is cook and make more of a mess. The benefit of working in restaurants is you don’t usually have to do the dishes, creative prowess is unleashed when there’s no dishes involved, I swear. But I won’t let my creative urges be tamed, the dishes can pile up, until eventually someone decides to crank some bouncy tunes and get ‘er done. Until then, there’s this rejuvenating fennel salad speckled with sweet pods of the juiciest pomegranate ever, crunchy green and purple pistachios, salty firm organic feta all drizzled with a simple olive oil, lemon and sesame seed dressing. This salad is amazing by itself but I can only imagine would be the perfect side for lamb shanks or grilled chicken.
I know it’s time to get baking delicious festive treats but to tell the truth I haven’t been struck with the spirit yet. Actually it feels a lot more like March than December and I’m not complaining. Though I do hope there’s a bit of snow in Edmonton when we go for Christmas. By then I’ll likely post 7 cookie and treat recipes in 2 days because my mom decorates to the nines and even if there’s not a flake of snow on the ground it’ll still feel like christmas when we get there. Poor mom, she had to take down all her fake snow blankets and move baby Jesus and the crew over to a higher table so that baby Mav won’t pull them all to their demise. He’s getting pretty agile and his absolute favourite thing is to pull stuff off of high tables, but he’s certainly got some guardian angels watching over him. Yesterday he pulled down a light wicker shelf that had a heavy piece of pottery sitting on it along with my heavy golden snale, it missed him by an inch though I think he learned his lesson as it was quite the shock.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
