French Sausage Soup with Lentils

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. – Ernest Hemingway

We are renting an apartment in Dartmouth. A furnished apartment. Anyone who has ever done that know’s where I’m going with this. It’s always lacking something you feel is a necessity in the kitchen.

The necessity that I miss most? A cast iron Dutch oven – that most useful of kitchen pots. It’s important to have a dish that gos from stovetop to oven without a second thought. Since it’s a necessity, I went looking for one.

What I didn’t want to do is duplicate a pot I have already at the house. I know too well what problems that can cause from my experience of combining two complete households when we moved to the country.

So I went looking, and I found what I was looking for. I bought a Spanish cazulea with a cover – partly because I was too cheap to buy a cast iron Dutch oven. It was $19.99 at Winners. The Dutch ovens started at $39 and went up from there.

Sautéing on the stovetop.

A cazuela is a glazed clay dish which, when soaked in water, can be used to go from stove top to oven. It can also be used over direct flame on a barbecue. I was a little leery the first time I used it. It was so pretty I didn’t want to crack it open on top of the burner...

Have you ever used clay pots? Think about it. Before our wonderful metal pots were in common use ancient peoples had to use something to cook in. Guess what? It was clay!

You do have to soak new clay pots in water before using them the first time, but they are an amazing material that are great for browning things on top of the stove as well as for slow cooking in the oven. They make succulent, tender meats. Just like a Dutch oven, at half the cost!

For longevity and performance a clay pot needs to absorb water before it is introduced to heat. The thicker the clay, the longer it needs to soak. Thick pots should be soaked for at least a couple hours, thinner ones can get away with a half hour.

You don’t need to soak it in water before every use. A process called ‘seasoning’ takes place every time the clay is used which means the more the piece is used the tougher it becomes.

I have gained a great deal of respect for clay since I have begun to use it. I probably will look for another dish or two to add to the collection!

SAo what did I make? Armed with my new covered cazula, I made soup – excellent soup with the French garlic sausage I posted two days ago. I promised you the recipe. I wasn’t drunk when I said it, but I take Hemingway’s advice to heart. I keep my promises.

Ready for the first stage in the oven.

French Sausage Soup with Lentils

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook: 1 hour  |  Serves 4    

200g thick smoked bacon, diced

1 lg onion, diced

1 lg carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

19 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 cup dried green lentils

2 cups vegetable stock

1 lb French Garlic Sausage, sliced

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

Soak top and bottom of a medium clay cooker in water for 15 to 30 minutes, if it's a new dish like mine was. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Slowly heat the clay pot bottom over medium heat by turning up the heat from low, to medium low to medium. Don’t stick it on the burner at high heat...just to be safe.

Add the diced bacon, onion, carrot and celery. Sauté until the bacon starts to exude fat and the onions become translucent.

Add the tomatoes and their liquid, the lentils and stock. Add some salt and pepper, cover and bring to a boil. Then cover and place the pot in the preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the pot and add the sausage and red wine vinegar. Stir well, cover and bake for an additional 30 minutes. If it looks like the soup will dry out, add more stock or water.There’s not a lot of broth when the recipe’s done.

Once the lentils are tender, taste for salt and pepper, adjust if necessary and serve with a crusty country loaf.

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French Garlic Sausage with Pistachios

If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. – Jim Rohn

I find inspiration in the most unlikely places. Often in recipes that call for an ingredient I can’t get my hands on.

That was the case with this recipe. I was looking at cassoulet recipes and one called for “French Garlic Sausage.” I had never heard of it, and garlic always sends me scurrying to find out more. I love garlic.

There are a few recipes for it, but the most intriguing was one that had chopped pistachios in the mix. Yup, nuts in a sausage. They looked great. Not one to back down from a challenge I bought pistachios the next time I was at a grocery. They are not cheap.

To mitigate the wallet shock buy them at a bulk food store. And resist the urge to get the red ones. They’re dyed. Buy unsalted, shelled green.

Very few ingredients go into these, but they're
packed with flavour.

I usually grind my own pork, but this time I opted for the far easier pre-ground. It was on sale... Lucky I did because I discovered an “issue” in the stuffing process. It had to do with the nuts.

When you use a sausage stuffer the meat passes through the grinder (without the grinder plate) and past a small plastic spacer before it goes through the stuffing tube.

As I tried to stuff I noticed the meat wasn’t coming out very quickly. When I investigated I found the nuts were getting clogged up. So I had to stuff all the sausage into the casings by hand, through the tube, with my finger.

A time setback, but I’ll know better next time.

This sausage has to cure for 3 days. Because it has sodium nitrite the finished product is also pink, kind of like a hot dog. The consistency also reminded me of that a little. It was very smooth.

I made these sausage for a French Lentil Soup. The recipe will follow this one in a couple days.

If you’re looking for a bit of an interesting sausage for the barbecue, or have cassoulet on your radar, give this one a try. They won’t disappoint!

This is the whole 1 kg after simmering for an hour.

French Garlic Sausage

Prep: 30 min + 3 days curing  |  Yield: about 4’ sausage

1 kg ground pork (2.2 lbs)

1/2 cup whole shelled pistachios

1/4 cup brandy

1/4 cup water

3 large garlic cloves, minced (about 1-1/2 to 2 tbsp)

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp sodium nitrite

1/2 tsp salt

pork sausage casing (about 4-5 feet long)

Pulse the whole peppercorns and garlic until garlic is ground. Add the pistachios and pulse until broken into medium sized pieces. 

Do not grind fine or the nuts will start to go into a paste. The peppercorns will still be fairly whole as well.

Add this mixture to the pork in a bowl. Then add the coriander, cracked black pepper, brandy, water, sodium nitrite and salt.

Mix with your hands until well combined. The meat should be quite smooth. Let rest for 15 minutes. Then stuff into sausage casings and twist into links. Make 8 if using for barbecuing, or fewer if slicing for in a dish like cassoulet. You can even leave it just one big coil.

Let cure in the refrigerator for 3 days.* After 3 days, bring water to a simmer in a covered pan large enough to accommodate the sausages in one layer.

Add the sausages, bring back to a simmer, cover and let cook for one hour. Remove and refrigerate until ready to use.

You can also freeze either uncooked or cooked.

*If barbecuing, you can omit the simmering step and put directly on the grill until browned and cooked through.

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If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below. Feel free to comment. I'll always try to respond. If you like this post, feel free to share it. All I ask is that you credit me and share a link back to the original.

You've got one week until Valentines' Day. How about chocolate?

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. – Oscar Wilde

This post is originally from two years ago, but since it's one week until Valentine's Day, I though you might like to have it for reference.

Next Friday will be a day full of celebrations as diverse as the couples celebrating it. Some will be going out to dinner (make reservations now!!!), or to a movie, or both. Some of you will also be pulling out all the stops in creating a magnificent feast for the one you love. Most likely some stage of the day will involve chocolate.

A Mayan clay figurine (unknown attribution)

Chocolate through history

Chocolate, from the cacao tree, was unknown in the Old World until Europeans "discovered" Central America in the 1400s.

The cacao tree was worshipped by the Mayan who believed it to be of divine origin. In their language, cacao meant "god food." 

This adoration of cacao continued through to the Aztecs as well. 

Our word "cocoa" is a corruption of the Mayan name.

Chocolate as an aphrodisiac

Chocolate has been used as an aphrodisiac since the time of the Mayans. Emperors would drink cacao mixed with chilli during religious rituals and to increase their fertility and sex drive. Chocolate and chilli is an amazing combination. French courtesans used to feed chocolate to their lovers hoping for the same effect. The ritual of giving chocolate to loved ones continues to this day, in hopes of the same result... sort of.

Chocolate is good for you

Pure dark chocolate is full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.  Antioxidant-rich food effects include increased blood circulation, reduced cholesterol levels, and lowered risks of stroke and heart attack. The magnesium, iron, and vitamin B found in chocolate can also help in preventing other illnesses. 

So maybe the Mayans were onto something. You do have to be healthy to "carouse" properly. At the same time, all things in moderation...

If you're looking for a good dose of chocolate for Valentine's Day, your search is over. How about a rich chocolate cake, complete with pink clove glaze? If it sounds decadent it's because it is.  Yes, I hear you saying "it's only a cake", but it has hints of coffee in the batter and the clove glaze really sends it over the top.

This cake is a snap to make. It is in the oven in 20 minutes – maximum. The glaze takes all of 5 minutes to mix together. If you have the time just before Valentine's Day give it a try. You'' fall in love" with the result.

The batter in the sugar/cocoa dusted pan.

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Pink Clove Drizzle

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook: 45 min to 1 hour

1 tbsp cocoa mixed with 1 tbsp white sugar

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cup white flour

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 cup milk

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tbsp instant coffee

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

This is what is meant by the cake pulling away from the
edge of the pan. It's a sign the cake is done, or nearly done.

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Grease a bundt or other tube pan with butter and dust the inside with the cocoa sugar mixture. Shake out any excess and set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.

Combine the milk, yogurt, instant coffee, melted butter, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix on low. Add the eggs one at a time and beat for 2 minutes. Then add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time and beat well after each addition.

Then slowly add in the remaining dry ingredients. Once combined, turn the mixer to medium and beat the batter for a further 5 minutes.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a cake needle inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

Depending on the pan you use, your time will vary. Start testing for doneness at 45 minutes just to be safe. If using layer pans, start testing at 30 minutes. (The pan I used took 1 hour 5 minutes.)

Allow the cake to partially cool on a wire rack before glazing. While cooling, make the icing and drizzle it on top of the cake. If you glaze it hot the drizzle will just run off.

Pink Clove Drizzle

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 tbsp white corn syrup

1/2 tsp ground clove

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

water and food colouring

Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl. Start with 1 tablespoon of water and continue adding a little at a time until you reach the consistency you want, then tint with red food colouring. Only add a drop or two of the food dye at a time and beat well to judge the final colour.

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If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below. Feel free to comment. I'll always try to respond. If you like this post, feel free to share it. All I ask is that you credit me and share a link back to the original.

Hawaiian Pizza

People love to hate. I have a love-hate relationship with the world. The world loves to hate me. – Andy Dick 

There’s probably no other round of dough that can stir more love or hate responses from people than Hawaiian pizza. You either love pineapple on a pizza or you don’t. The only other ingredient I can think of that puts people in such opposite camps is anchovy.

Before rising to at least double.

I love Hawaiian pizza, and I love anchovy/black olive pizza. I could even possibly see all three combined! Call me weird if you want, but there something about the sweetness of baked pineapple that just hits the spot.

So is Hawaiian pizza “Hawaiian”? No. Apparently it was invented by – get ready for it – a Canadian! The pizza was first made by Sam Panopolus of Satellite Restaurant located in Chatham, Ontario in 1962. 

This information is first-hand – straight from the man himself, as opposed to Wikipedia, which got the place and man right, but date and restaurant wrong.

So there’s the nut of it. A pizza called Hawaiian, made by a man of Greek ethnicity on the shores of Lake Erie. 

It is said that the restaurant also tried to popularize an Hawaiian burger but it never caught on. Think I may try that this summer, with grilled pineapple slices, basted with brown sugar and melted butter. Mmmm...

The combination of pineapple, ham and cheese is a favourite of anyone who loves sort of sweet and sour flavours, and also Australians, where it makes up about 15% of all pizza sales.

You can use tomato sauce on any pizza as opposed to buying special pizza sauce. Just make sure it's on the thick side or your pizza will be watery. You can mix some tomato paste in with it if you wish to help keep it together. Mine was homemade, so I didn't have that problem to deal with.

One thing that recipes don’t tell you (mine included) is that whatever sauce you use should be a little on the sweet side. If yours isn’t, fix it by adding a little honey or brown sugar. Just a little though – it’s not dessert!

Hawaiian Pizza

Crust: 8 hours  |  Pizza prep: 15 min  |  Bake 20-25 min

Pizza crust

2 cups flour

1 cup water (110°F)

2 tsp yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp olive oil

Hawaiian toppings

1 cup tomato sauce (basil if possible)

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

200 g sliced ham

5 slices pineapple, chopped

200g mozzarella, grated

a little salt

1 tsp cracked blackpepper

1 tsp dried basil or oregano

Mix together all the crust ingredients in a large bowl. Knead briefly (1 minute), them place back in the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and a towel. Let rise out of any cool drafts for 8 hours until at least doubled. (Go to work, go shopping, go to bed...)

Once the crust has risen, oil a 13x18 baking sheet with a little olive oil. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Spread the crust out and let it rest until the oven comes to full temperature, about 15 minutes.

Then add the toppings starting with the sauce, chilli flakes, onion and green pepper. Sprinkle with a little salt. Then add the ham, pineapple, mozzarella, black pepper and basil (or oregano).

Bake for between 20-25 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned on the bottom. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before serving. Hot pineapple can burn your mouth!

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If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below. Feel free to comment. I'll always try to respond. If you like this post, feel free to share it. All I ask is that you credit me and share a link back to the original.

Time to make vanilla extract again

If you like vanilla you're not going to like "Breaking Bad." You need to like a specific flavour that is unusual, that is different, that takes risks. – Bryan Cranston 

This is someone else's homemade vanilla extract. I have run out completely.
Photo: di.wineanddine, Flickr ccl

Boring. Plain. Unexciting. Vanilla. They're all words cast around as meaning about the same thing. That's too bad, because there's nothing boring about vanilla. In fact, vanilla is one of the most complex flavourings we use in food. It's also the second most expensive – right after saffron. AND the most popular by far.

This is all you need to make your own vanilla.

This is a recipe that not only saves you money but also is head and shoulders above artificial vanilla extract. Throw that stuff out, please! 

Has anyone recently bought a bottle of real vanilla extract? Bit of a burden on the wallet, especially if you bake a fair bit. So it's good to be able to make it at home.

This recipe is EASY.  It is so easy that it essentially makes itself without any outside intervention. Unfortunately it’s also one of those recipes that you have to wait, and wait, for the results.

So how do you do it? All you need are vanilla beans, vodka, small bottles and a knife. I found small corked bottles at Michael’s arts and crafts for $1.69 each. They are perfect.

In case you don’t already know, vanilla beans (the origin of “real” extract) are the seed pods of the orchid Vanilla planifolia. 

Mesoamerican peoples cultivated the vanilla orchid, but it wasn’t called vanilla until the Spanish arrived. Their word “vainilla” means "little pod." Cortés is credited with introducing Europe to both vanilla and chocolate. At least we owe him for that.

We usually purchase vanilla extract here in Nova Scotia for about $15+ per 4 ounces (110 ml). Since we’re making a whopping 375 ml supply to compare cost multiply that by three to $45 CAN.

Split each half-bean to expose the seeds. That's what you see
as "dirt" on the cutting board. They're very small.

This recipe (375 ml of vanilla extract) costs about $28 for the whole lot, including the bottles. The big variable is in the price of the vanilla beans.  

They’re (relatively) cheap at our local Bulk Barn bulk food stores and every bit as good as more expensive gourmet stores.

My bottom photo shows the extract right after 24 hours. About 5 hours after I made it I could see a little colour coming into the bottles. Last time I made it the extract had coloured quite darkly by about 3 months and was able to be used.

This is right after combining.

Homemade Vanilla Extract*

Time: 1 to 3 or 6 months

4-1/2 vanilla beans

375 ml vodka

3 1/2-cup bottles (118 ml)

Cut each vanilla bean in half. Split the vanilla beans down lengthwise and peel back to expose the seeds.

Add 1 and 1/2 beans to each small bottle. Pour 1/2 cup vodka over the beans, cork and wait.

It will be perfectly clear at first, but at 1 week you will begin to see some colour. After 12 hours I could see some colour in mine.

After 24 hours.

At 1 month your extract will be usable but weak. At 3 months it will be very good. At 6 months it will be amazing. It will continue to darken as it ages.

I have read that you can keep your vanilla going by topping up with more vodka as you use it and exchange the beans as they get exhausted.

If you do it now, you’ll be ready to bake in May. I know it’s a while, but it will be here before we know it. I’m sure.

* Of course you can scale this recipe up or down. The ratio is 1.5 beans to 1/2 cup (118 ml) of vodka.

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If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below. Feel free to comment. I'll always try to respond. If you like this post, feel free to share it. All I ask is that you credit me and share a link back to the original.

Blackberry Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake

Lower your expectations of earth. This isn't heaven, so don't expect it to be. – Max Lucado

Sometimes you just have to suck it up and make your own.

Cheesecake + Halifax = Disappointment. I’ve had a bit of a craving over the last 3-4 months – a good piece of cheesecake. I think it was triggered by the tiramisu cheesecake we had in Moncton. Delicious.

Sadly, at least in HRM, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of cheesecake unless you want to go to a restaurant. You CAN find it there. But It seems almost all of the “buy a piece and take home” places have evaporated from the face of our fair city. Where has all the heaven gone?

If anyone can let me know where I can buy – and take home – decent cheesecake in Halifax, please let me know. Please...

Don’t even think about buying cheesecake from a grocery store. I guess if I’m going to have a good piece of cheesecake I’ll have to make it myself. Luckily I do have a few good recipes just laying around. This is one from a couple years ago, when the black berries were ripe and juicy on the canes in our back yard.

I just hit the last flush from that year. The berries were not as plentiful as they would have been at their height, but the ones that were hanging were still excellent.

I wanted to do something a little different than I usually do (freeze and make trifle at Christmas) so I dreamed this up.

I don’t want to write a whole lot of intro, as the recipe is rather long and involved. So let’s just get down to it.

The day after I made this I took it to work with me to share with my coworkers. They had been putting up with a lot from me at the time because I had been having several difficult months. In a small way I hoped that it said “thank you.” The way to a coworker’s heart is through their stomach...

By the way, you can easily make your own Ricotta (search this blog). You can also make your own cream cheese. I’ve posted recipes for both. But I made neither. I was lazy. Making the cheesecake was enough for me for one day...

Blackberry Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake with Blackberry Glaze

This is both batters before swirling.

Prep: 20 min  |   Cook: 1 hr 20 min  |  Serves 12

Graham crust

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake

300 g whole milk ricotta, drained 

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature 

1 cup sugar 

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon rind 

4 large eggs

1-1/2 cups blackberries

2 tsp cornstarch

Blackberry glaze

1-1/2 cups blackberries

1/2 c. sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp cornstarch

Making the blackberry purée.

Make the blackberry purée for both the cheesecake and glaze by boiling the berries and straining out the seeds. Don't do them at the same time, but separately for each step.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Wrap the outside of a 9-inch spring form cheesecake pan with a layer of heavy-duty foil. This will protect the cake from amy water seepage during the hot water bath when it bakes.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor and process until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom of the prepared pan with a measuring cup. 

Bake until the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a cooling rack.

Tamping the crust down with a measuring
cup is a good way to do it.

Beat the ricotta in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add the cream cheese and sugar and blend well, stopping the machine occasionally and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add in the lemon juice and zest. 

With the beaters running, add the eggs one at a time and mix each just until blended. Remove and reserve 1/4 of the batter. Pour the rest into the graham crust.

In a small bowl, mash the blackberries, then strain through a sieve to remove the seeds. Add the cornstarch to the resulting juice and mix well. Combine the juice with the reserved cheesecake batter and mix well. The result will be thin.

Gently swirl the two batters together and bake. This after baking.

Pour the blackberry batter on top and swirl the two batters together with a knife without mixing too much.

Anyone remember this? (It's Darcie and Kelly.)

Place the cheesecake in a baking dish large enough to hold the spring form pan with some room on all sides. Pour hot water into the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the spring form pan.

Bake in the centre of the oven until the cheesecake is set and the centre still moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour and 5 minutes. The cake will set up firmer as it cools. Let cool for 1 hour on a wire rack.

Pour the glaze over the cooled cheesecake and tilt it to spread evenly. You may not need all the glaze.

After the cheesecake has cooled, make the blackberry glaze. Crush the blackberries and mix with the sugar in a saucepan. Mash and cook until the juice is extracted and the sugar is dissolved. Strain out the seeds and pulp.

Pour the strained liquid back into the (washed) saucepan. Add the lemon. In a little dish mix the 2 tsp of cornstarch with 2 tsp of the juice. Pour back into the liquid and mix well. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Cool slightly then pour over the cheesecake.

This cheesecake is not too sweet with hints of lemon and berry flavours.

Refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least overnight. Cut the cake into wedges and serve.

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Feel free to comment. I'll always try to respond. If you like this post, feel free to share it. All I ask is that you credit me and share a link back to the original.