Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Natasha was in the mood for pancakes this morning. Of course, that wasn't on our weekly menu, but I'm always up for something like that. After having Simply in Season's "Nutty Sweet Potato Waffles" on Sunday, I was up for another fall comfort food. To me, there are few things better than pumpkin in the fall and winter months. Pumpkins are coming to the end of their season in Nova Scotia, so I bought up several at the market last Saturday. (As we speak, I'm preparing pumpkin puree for other pumpkin recipes in the weeks to come.) You can understand, then, why I was determined to combine Natasha's pancake craving with my pumpkin craving.

I Googled "pumpkin pancakes" and found several good ideas. (Google, as we all know, is the answer to many quick-fix needs in the kitchen.) Unfortunately, none of these good ideas really "hit the spot" for me. I wanted something hardy, filling, and nourishing. I didn't want them to be heavy, though, nor did I want them to be too sweet (pumpkin is pretty sweet on its own!). Ideally, we would've found something gluten-free, lactose-free, and refined sugar-free. I found nothing that fit that description. I found one decent recipe that called for nuts, which always makes for a good source of protein. However, the recipe still called for some cheats, which I was unwilling to do. So, I did what any self-respecting amateur cook would do in this situation: I made my own recipe.

First, you'll notice I use spelt. If you're gluten-free or celiac, you know that spelt has some gluten in it. We're wheat-free, not gluten-free, so when we can't find something specific for gluten-free flours, we use spelt because it's easiest. Also, I want to experiment with things like agave nectar or maple syrup in the future, but I chose to go with evaporated cane juice because it's not as sweet. Finally, I pulled in the nut idea and several spices that we're in most of the recipes I found, but I love my pumpkin spicy! Honestly, though these are not overly sweet, there's a pumpkin pie quality to the flavor here that can only be a good thing. :)

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes (for the entire batch)
Serves: 4-5, depending on if you're a big eater :)

1 1/2 cups whole spelt flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 free-range eggs
1 cup almond or soy milk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup plain yogurt (you can find lactose-free in the right store, but regular will work fine if you can have it)
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup evaporated cane juice crystals
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts

1) In a large bowl whisk together the spelt, oats, baking powder, and spices until well blended.

2) In a separate, medium bowl beat your eggs until canary yellow and a little fluffy. Add milk, pumpkin, yogurt, vanilla, cane juice, and sea salt. Whisk together until well blended.

3) Pour the egg mixture into the spelt mixture, combining until just blended. Fold in nuts. (Do not overmix, or the batter will become runny.)

4) Pour batter onto hot griddle (medium-high heat) or frying pan, 1/4 cup at a time. If you're not used to cooking pancakes, watch for small bubbles to form in the cooking batter, particularly around the edges. When the bubbles pop, but their shape remains, you know it's safe to flip them and continue cooking till they are golden brown on the other side.

5) You can serve these alone, but for most people, they'll want butter or margarine and syrup. Please avoid fake syrup, and if you use maple, look for the darkest maple available to you. We also served this with fresh pear slices on the side because they fit the fall comfort food theme we had going. :)

Blueberry Lemon Bread

I'm a sucker for anything sweet, and those close to me know that I am more of a sucker for lemon. Though an open chocoholic, I would forsake chocolate for the right lemon dessert. Sometimes lots of lemon is best - as in my mom's "lemon lush." (If you're lucky I'll figure out a more nourishing way to make this and publish the recipe some day. It's a great birthday treat for people like me who could care less about cake.) Most often, though, it is subtle lemon that sends me over the top.

I've tried several lemon things lately, most notably Clotilde's lemon kefir ice cream. It was, by far, my best strong lemon experience since 2001, when I had a beautiful lemon sorbet at the Delta in Moncton. (It will be better when I chop the lemon zest more finely!) I was still in the mood for lemon, though, and we wanted something we could use for breakfast and share with someone we know whose hospital recovery means they cannot cook for themselves.

Because it's blueberry season and we live in blueberry heaven, we have several pounds of fresh blueberries waiting to become something lovely. Roya and I made blueberry muffins the other day, after which I thought, "You know, I'll bet lemon would work well with something like this." Then Natasha said, "I'm longing for a nice loaf this week." What was I to do? Natasha is eight months pregnant, Roya is completely into cooking with Dad, and I hadn't been creative enough in awhile. So, Roya and I developed this lovely recipe for blueberry lemon bread.

When trying to think up this recipe I wanted to be sure to avoid the common "lemon loaf" that is common in potlucks around here. I like it fine, but it's far too sweet for my taste. I also wanted to make it as Natasha-friendly as possible. I'm certain we succeeded. This loaf went over well with the whole family! It even complimented our coffee (Just Us! Guatemala blend) well, too! :) (The only down side is our friend who's home from the hospital turns out to be diabetic and, now, cannot indulge. So, we're looking for a home for some of our bread.)

Honestly, I think you need to check out this recipe.

Blueberry Lemon Bread
Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf (would also make twelve muffins)

3/4 cup light spelt flour
3/4 cup heavy/dark spelt flour (or use 1 1/2 cup light spelt; we mix for the lightness of the light spelt and the more wholesome qualities of the dark spelt)
1 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 large (organic is best; you'll see why below) lemon
1 large egg
3/4 cup almond milk (original, NOT flavored)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup agave syrup
1 1/2 cup blueberries (you could use saskatoons, raspberries, or blackberries, but I strongly encourage you to stick with blueberries, which would best complement the hint of lemon, in my opinion)

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease loaf stone (or pan, if you don't have the stone).

2. In a large bowl, combine flours, oats, baking powder, and sea salt.

3. With short strokes, zest the entire lemon over the dry ingredients. (Remember to remove the sticker on the lemon, or you'll end up wishing you had!!) Stir the zest into the dry ingredients. Cut the lemon in half and juice it to produce about 1/4 cup lemon juice into a small bowl. Remove the seeds and set the lemon juice aside.

4. In a medium bowl combine the egg, almond milk, lemon juice, olive oil, and agave syrup with whisk until well blended. Add to the dry ingredients and combine until just blended.

5. Fold in the blueberries gently until just blended (attempt fairly even distribution). Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. (Optional: You can sprinkle cane juice granules lightly on top of the batter before baking if you desire a slightly sweeter loaf.)

6. Remove loaf from oven and let sit for five minutes. Carefully remove loaf from pan and cook completely on a wire rack.

Apricot Coffee Cake

First, I cannot take credit for this recipe. I so cannot take credit that I write it below only to translate it into "our" language and with an enormous shout-out to Clotilde Dusoulier, whom you should all know by now is my favorite food blogger. Her recipes are familiar, accessible, and generally nourishing (though who can ever get enough of her scrumptious desserts?). Even in the Maritimes, we can find almost any ingredient for her creative, yet productive meal choices.

This post actually started at Pete's, always a good place for my tongue and body, rarely a good place for my wallet. Can I help it? Pete's has the best selection of "real" food in the region (with exception, of course, to our wonderful farmers market, where I recently discovered a woman who makes Natasha-friendly jam!!!!!). Unfortunately, not enough of their food is local, but very fortunately, they had a wonderful selection of fresh apricots when we went there last week. They were soft (but not mushy), plump (but not bursting), and sweet (but not syrupy). As we sat in our basement with our friends eating them last Friday, they were just what a hot, humid afternoon required.

Then came yesterday, when the apricots were on the edge between perfect and too-good-to-be-true. All I could hear was my lone reader in Moncton, urging me to invent something based on a few good things I thought of in the last few weeks. The last thing she saw me do was carve a ham, so surely I could redeem myself with a good apricot recipe! What about a wholesome muffin? Too boring. What about a crisp? Too sweet. What about a salad? Possibly, particularly since I have a few nice peaces, some pears, and Saskatoons in my fridge. I needed those fruits for something else, though. Apricots are always good with white meat, but I'm on a meat-only-when-necessary kick right now.

Then I found this by Clotilde. Reading that she and her mother made it so many times told me this would satisfy the familiarity factor, but I'd never tried an apricot coffee cake. This was my first coffee cake in a LONG time, since we avoid wheat, but I was pleased that spelt works well. I was also pleased when Clotilde let me know this will freeze, according to her mother's usual practice. Just when I was about to do an apricot variation on her Hazelnut and Nectarine Gratin (with pecans, of course!) or try out her Peach Apricot Compote, I decided, "Why not? It freezes; let's do it!"

The coffee cake never made it to the freezer. I made it this morning before being dropped off at work, and since we had a few minutes, we decided to try it. Even our 17-month-old wanted more! Of course we restrained ourselves, only to save this for tomorrow morning's breakfast, but this is a real keeper. One word to the wise: do use a springform pan, as Clotilde suggests, but be sure not to use a 10" one like I did. It still turns out, but it's a little too thin for my taste. Now, on with our slight variation on the original.

Apricot Coffee Cake (remember, from Clotilde and her mom)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 35 minutes
Serves: several

Cake:
8 medium, ripe apricots, washed, quartered, and stones removed
1 3/4 cup spelt flour (we use half light spelt, half stoneground spelt - this makes it a little heavier)
1 tsp baking powder
generous pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup butter
1 Tbsp almond milk (use original; it's sweet enough on its own)
1/2 cup minus 1 Tbsp cane sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Topping:
1 Tbsp whipping cream
1 Tbsp cane sugar
1 egg

- Preheat your oven to 350F. Meanwhile, grease the bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan (see note above).
- In a food processor, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and butter. DO NOT OVERMIX. Add in the sugar and mix again. DO NOT OVERMIX. Add in the milk and egg, mixing just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX. (Are you getting me? I walked a fine line this morning. Trust me; don't overmix.)
- Pour the thick batter into the pan, using a spatula to remove all batter and to spread it evenly in your pan. Arrange your apricots in a circular pattern on top of the batter. (I love the geometry of this - I'm a nerd.)
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for your topping until well blended. Pour the mixture evenly over the batter and apricots. (Honestly, you have no idea how wonderful this is going to be. Trust me.)
- Bake for 35 minutes or until it is golden brown, the apricots tender. Turn off the oven and leave it for another 10-15 minutes. Though we did not do it, Clotilde recommends dusting the top with confectioner's sugar just before serving. (You can serve it at any temperature.)

Bolognese Sauce

First, I assume this blog has no readership left. Among the many things I neglected when I finished this past school year was writing about anything we cook and eat in our home. Honestly, during the year I had little to say. We ate mostly the same things, and I was on the road so much that we weren't really cooking much at all. Even when I was home, suppertime normally fell during music lesson times, so collectively had about fifteen minutes to create a semblance of a reasonable dinner for the baby and us. That meant experimentation and food blogging went dormant for months.

However, I was talking to Kevin from Linden Leas, a guy from the north shore of Nova Scotia who sells local "free-range" beef, this past weekend and realized I hadn't yet shared our recipe for bolognese sauce. This was one experiment we did try in the spring because the recipe makes approximately 2 liters of sauce and freezes very well. That was important for us, as we were always on the run. We used this to top kamut pasta quite often, but we even used it as the sauce base for a baked penne dish I made up on the spot with ingredients we had kicking around one weekend. A lot of people I know are busy, so putting one three-hour time investment that will benefit you for several days or a couple of weeks is a great thing!

If you live anywhere in northern or central Nova Scotia, I can guarantee good results because this recipe depends on good beef. Having River Breeze and Linden Leas around makes good beef very possible. The taste of this local beef, combined with the health benefit of no hormones or chemicals (aside from what our environment is already polluted with, of course), leaves one with the best beef I've ever had. (I know what you're thinking: "Lynn, you don't like beef. You could be a vegetarian if you could afford it. What gives?" You're right, but trust me, good beef is good beef, even if you do prefer tofu.) If you are not from Nova Scotia, then try and find some local free-range beef. It pays dividends to this recipe.

Before I give you the goods, I have to confess one thing. This is actually not an Erskine original. When we were early married we were given the December 2003 issue of "everyday FOOD," which is the basis for what we do. You'll note a few changes to accommodate our tastes and food intolerances. However, we have to give credit where credit is due: Thanks, Martha!

Bolognese Sauce
Yield: approximately 2 liters
Total time commitment: approximately 3 hours

2 strips bacon (the less fat, the better), finely chopped
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped (go for a darker green for best results)
1 large carrot, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds free-range ground beef
coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper
2 cups original Silk (either Rice Dream or Almond Breeze (unsweetened) works, too, but Silk is best)
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 cup dry white wine (we have used a savignon blanc, but a chardonnay would be beautiful)
2 cans (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1) In a Dutch oven cook bacon, onions, celery, carrot, and garlic over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened (5-8 minutes).

2) Add beef. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned.

3) Raise heat to high. Add the Silk and nutmeg. Cook, stirring frequently, until the Silk has evaporated (6-8 minutes). Add wine. Cook, stirring frequently, until the wine has evaporated (6-8 minutes).

4) Stir tomatoes into beef mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick and beef is very tender (2 hours). Only if necessary, add water a little bit at a time to prevent the sauce from becoming too dry. (Use no more than 1.5 - 2 cups total, though.) Season with salt and pepper.

5) Use fresh to top your favorite pasta, and freeze the rest in tightly sealed containers. We recommend freezing a couple of servings each in several containers so you only have to thaw what you actually need. This sauce reheats very easily in the microwave or stovetop, even without thawing.

On the Bottle

We're officially ruined. If you've received recipes from us in the last several years, you'll know we occasionally use recipes requiring wine. We know that if you cook with wine, it's best to cook with wine you'll drink. However, we decided we would avoid the liquor store by using cooking wine until we decided if we like recipes. We kept using cooking wine because we liked recipes enough and because it was inexpensive. Then it happened. I was storm-stayed in the Valley and had time to kill. I wandered into the liquor store just to ask what was the best cooking wine. They took one look at me, sized me up realistically, and took me over to Astica's sauvignon blanc. It was inexpensive, and it was a "real" wine. I left it alone.

A couple of weeks ago I decided we've made so many risottos with cooking wine that we know we love them. It was time to try out this sauvignon blanc. The taste is much less vinagary, much bolder, and a better supplement to the creamy arborio. The next time I opened our cooking wine (a drop was left), I couldn't believe the difference! I can't imagine using cooking wine again. Sure, all things in moderation, but do yourself a favor and use the real deal.

BTW, we made the best Bolognese sauce in the world two weeks ago! If I can get my hands on the recipe, it's coming on this blog!

LE

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I cannot get enough of this site. Seriously. Everything I try is delicious! You probably wondered with my trips to "Chocolate and Zucchini" if we'd ever try anything with Chocolate and Zucchini, right? Well, we did, and it was good. So good.

We decided to try our hand at this cake and advise you to do the same. You know us; we couldn't just do the recipe as written if everyone was going to eat it. Nevertheless, we wanted something good like this because we were having Shannon, Deed, Robin, and John over for lunch. (I cooked the chicken in white wine, butter, citrus, and butter. Do it.) We needed a dessert for all people, and this was it. AND it was sugar-free (we substituted with Sucanat), wheat-free (we used light spelt for all two cups of flour), and dairy-free (we used Silk). For chocolate chips, we made sure they were over 50% cacao. So, this was overall a relatively healthy cake that we will definitely make again! We even got to share some with Matt and Bonnie, who, like the rest of us, thought it was amazing. Though not everyone could have it, we served the cake with home-made vanilla whipped cream (whip whipping cream with a teaspoon of vanilla). This was flavorful without being too sweet; rich without overpowering; and moist in the middle with a beautiful hazelnut (aka filbert) topping.

Try this soon. It will become a favorite for everyone who's not allergic to nuts!!!

Fall with a Kick

I'm trying to stay true to my promise to keep you informed about Chocolate and Zucchini. Clotilde struck again with this recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Soup. (Yes, it's another soup, but it's fall! Soups are warm, filling, and often leave leftovers for a family our size.) The familiarity of the pumpkin flavor evokes the comfort of fall, while the spicy flavors give the soup an exciting kick! I personally recommend adding the creme fraiche to the soup before serving. I tried serving it with a dollop on each soup bowl, but it wasn't dramatic enough to forego making the taste uniform throughout the soup. If you'd like a garnish, try a parsley sprig or, if you dare, a mint leaf. Have I mentioned how I appreciate the inexpensive, uncomplicated, healthy recipes she posts? So good!

(By the way, I'm not going to dedicate a whole post to it, but you should really try her Butternut Squash and Vanilla Soup. You'll be as surprised as I was by its aromatic punch.)