Easter Brunch.......

Hi. Remember me? I used to be really good about blogging almost everything I make. I still take pics of what I cook, but sometimes life gets in the way. I started a new job baking 3 days a week. I still have my other job cooking for the Seniors. I was really sick 2 weeks ago and then I went to FL for 9 days. I'm back now, ready to blog.

Robin really loves Hot Cross buns, but she said she's never had a really fresh one( she always has to toast them). I remedied that, by whipping up this recipe. I searched online, but then went to my massive cookbook collection and pulled out a bread machine cookbook. I really have no qualms about making dough in the machine, especially when I'm making 3 other things too. I decided on this recipe because it used skim milk( I didnt want to go out and buy whole milk) and I had everything on hand. Actually, I take that back. The recipe called for dried currants and dried apricots. I had the latter, not the former. I did have a mix of dried fruits(breakfast blend) by Sunsweet. It contained dates, 2 different raisins and prunes so I used that. It worked out well. The dough was super simple using AP flour, brown sugar, mace( I used a shake of pumpkin pie spice) eggs, butter, milk, yeast and salt. When the dough cycle is finished, you dump out the dough and knead in the dried fruits. After forming into rolls, you let rise again, slash the top and bake. After they were in the oven for about 5 min, I realized I forgot to slash the crosses into the top( Hey, I'm Jewish, I dont often make crosses). I hoped it would still work and it was fine. I just mixed up the glaze( powdered sugar, milk and vanilla or Fiori Di Sicillia). I let them cool for a few minutes then made the crosses by drizzling them on with a spoon. It worked out pretty well. Everyone loved them!! On my way back to Canada from the airport( in Detroit) last week, I stopped at Nino Salvaggio's
and picked up some Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Cultered Butter. It was divine on these.

I also made a smoked salmon, mushroom and asparagus quiche( The crust is Pate Brise, I subbed 1/4c. of WW flour in place of some of the AP flour)and roasted fingerling potatoes. I love these potatoes. I picked up a bag at our local grocery store( PC Brand) for 1.50. I'm always stunned when I can find gourmet stuff in our small town.

I didnt get a picture of the fabulous yogurt granola parfaits I made. I used Liberte organic vanilla yogurt. OMG, that stuff is TOO DIE FOR!! Robin said it was like eating heavy cream. I normally always look at labels( and prices) at the grocery store, but for some odd reason( subconciously maybe I didnt want to know) I didnt. I was shocked to see it had 15g of fat for 175g serving. It was also 4.79 for 750g. When I made the parfaits, I used probably 2 heaping tablespoons of the yogurt so I didnt feel too guilty. I also used some blackberries( from Mexico) and some semi tasteless strawberries from Cali. I really can't wait until we have Ontario strawberries. Those rock and last year I made a killer jam with them.

No big meal tonight. I'm going to have some blintzes my mom made for me and I schlepped back from Florida!!

Multigrain pancakes( Cook's Illustrated)....

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately but unfortunately most of it hasnt been at home. Today was our Sunday brunch at work. One of the things I really love about this job is that my boss gives me a lot of freedom with menu planning. So when I want to try something new, we usually put it on the brunch menu. I've had my eye on these multigrain pancakes for awhile now. Like all CI recipes, it was very well tested. This recipe uses museli that is ground into flour along with AP flour and whole wheat flour. You'll also sour your own milk with lemon juice instead of using buttermilk. I doubled the batch and after it was all mixed together, the batter was rather thin. My boss noticed too and said " Have you ever made these before" and I said " Nope, but I totally trust CI". I said " they've never let me down and I dont expect they ever will". Thankfully, I was right. They cooked up light and crisp. Robin came to the brunch today and said she thought they were the best item there, my boss's husband who is notoriously picky ate them without syrup and raved. So, I was very happy. Thank you CI!!

New Year's Brunch......

Working is really cramping my blogging style. The LAST thing I want to do when I get home from work is cook a meal. Last week I worked Friday-Monday( NY DAY) preparing for the big New Year's day brunch we serve at work. On Friday we also prepared food for a dinner party and on New Year's Day we made even more food for another clients's own private brunch. I was soley responsible for numerous items on this brunch. I prepared all of the Jewish food using my mom's recipe for cheese blintzes and her recipe for chopped liver( gag). I also made rugelach and potato latkas. Additionally I prepared black magic cupcakes and we planned on yeasted waffles, but we ran out of milk on New Year's eve and no stores were open so those waffles became plain waffles.

I really didnt think the Jewish food would go over as well as it did, but people were raving about it. I won't touch the chopped liver with a ten foot pole, but my boss said it was fabulous. We even bought Matzah to serve with it. I only wish my mom was here to taste everything. Those blintzes were so labor intensive. I now know why I request those from my mom when I go back to Florida. I had some trouble with the crepe part until I read another recipe for Blintzes from The Joy of Cooking and saw that the batter needed to rest. My mom left that part out.

I made a really wonderful mixed berry sauce to serve with them. My boss was surprised when I informed her that the blintzes needed to be pan sauteed in butter since that is what my mom always did. She assumed once they were made, that was it. I also made homeade apple sauce to go with the latkas. My boss uses a recipe for chinese latkas( using cornstarch) and she said she thought mine were better. I also made 5 huge batches of wild mushroom risotto. I pre-cooked it the day before and finished it off the morning of the brunch. We had a lot leftover which will make wonderful arrancini( risotto balls).


Some of the other items on the brunch that I did not make were; Macaroni and cheese, creamed spinach, seafood casserole, parmesean chicken, prime rib, roasted vegetables, spinach salad, lemon raspberry trifle, caramel pot de creme, rice pudding and black olive tapenade.

I was so exhausted on Monday that I slept for almost 12 hours. In fact, I'm still tired!! Thankfully, I don't have to work for the caterer again until the end of January. However, I start a new job on Jan 11th cooking for 50 seniors twice a month. That will be an experience for sure.