Summer outings 2016

I often start writing posts and then let them languish on my hard drive without publishing them, and I think that’s what happened here. I was hoping to have another outing to add to the list, but we seem to have skipped August and might skip September as well, so there’s no point in holding off any longer.

Our June outing was a visit to Philadelphia on our way north. The road trip itself yielded a few surprises: on the first day, I tasted python (made into jerky – tastes like turkey) as well as alligator nuggets (tastes like chicken, but a bit fishier and chewier). We also had a dinner at Logan’s Roadhouse, where it turns out they have a surprisingly good house salad (I had it with grilled chicken and balsamic vinaigrette). My favorite chain, though, was still Panera Bread, where this time I tried a half strawberry poppy seed salad (with grilled chicken, mandarin oranges, blueberries and pineapple) with a half turkey avocado BLT (pictured below). Divine! We also fell for the charm of small-town Virginia: Woodstock had the best playground ever, while Radford had an unexpectedly great restaurant called River City Grill. I had the pesto primavera with chicken, and it exceeded all my expectations.


We only had a day in Philadelphia, and we got caught in the rain for part of it, so we didn’t see everything there is to see (can one ever achieve such a thing, though?). The first thing we noticed is that it takes some balls to drive in Philadelphia – traffic patterns and parking spots are insane! What I most wanted to see was the Liberty Bell, so that’s what we did first. This had been a long time coming for me, because of a failed class trip over 20 years ago (the point of which had been to see the Liberty Bell, and we ended up running out of time because a classmate whose name I’ll keep to myself forgot her jacket at a McDonald’s and we had to go back for it). We also had a cursory visit of Independence National Historical Park, across the street from the Liberty Bell. The park includes Old City Hall, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Library Hall and Philosophical Hall. As it turns out, tickets to go into Independence Hall must be obtained at the visitor center a block away, which we only found out after having gone through security and visiting the exterior of the buildings – at that point, we didn’t want to go through all that again. We did go into Congress Hall, and we saw one of the (26 known remaining) originals of the Declaration of Independence.


We had lunch at Rouge, which is known for its burgers. The place was slightly fancier than we would have wished (seeing as how we came in with a toddler and a stroller, all of us wet from the downpour), but the staff was very welcoming and accommodating. The burger was great, too, with caramelized onions and gruyere and very good fries (Perhaps I would make the patty flatter, but that’s another story). We also had cupcakes at Sweet Freedom Bakery, which is vegan, gluten-free and allergy-friendly. We actually tried four different cupcakes: berry, vanilla, chocolate and faux-stess. I really liked the flavor of the berry, but the chocolate was my favorite (although I only had one bite, because the Little Prince didn’t want to share it). The Engineer preferred vanilla. What is interesting is that the frostings are all different – one might be coconut cream, another might be coconut-free. From the perspective of a lactose-free cook, I find frostings to be the most challenging, so I’m pleasantly surprised that a bakery would go beyond creating one frosting recipe and adapting it. That being said, the frosting on the berry cupcakes was a bit pasty for my taste, but the others were great.


We topped it off with a quick look at the Rocky statue and the Rocky steps, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A good time was had by all.



As an outing in Quebec, in July, my mother and I took the Little Prince to Miler Zoo, which is near my grandmother’s house. Basically, picture something like the Austin Zoo or Montreal’s Ecomuseum, albeit on a smaller scale. They are open from late May until (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and by appointment during the winter (though since all the wheelchair- and stroller-friendly paths are really dirt trails, they do close in case of heavy rain). All the animals there have been rescued: there are farm animals (with a pig, goats and chickens roaming free), including exotics like ostriches and llamas, as well as a zebra-donkey hybrid; there are also local wildlife specimens like deer, raccoons, lynxes, bears, and wolves, in addition to monkeys, lions, a tigress and kangaroos. I wouldn’t recommend driving all the way out there from Montreal, but if you’re in the general Quebec City area, it’s worth a day-trip!



Once in Montreal, we made the time to have lunch with our friends at the reopened Zero 8 restaurant (which is now also mustard-free, so it could be called Zero 9, really). Everything was just as good as I remembered, and the place also seemed more child-friendly than I remembered (I don’t know if this was due to the new location, to eating lunch instead of dinner or to the fact that I now eat with a child). The Journal de Montréal published an article about them last month, and when they discuss crowd-funding (point 7), there’s a picture of my “brick” on the wall. :)

We also made a sort of pilgrimage to Copoli, which has relocated. This place is known for its BIG burgers (the Engineer ate one by himself, but I split one with the Little Prince, who was overjoyed with the size of things). In all seriousness, it’s not the best burgers in town, but probably some of the most impressive (I would say the same about Chris Madrid’s in San Antonio.)


For our anniversary, the Engineer and I went to Toqué!, where we had a fantastic meal. Even for a special occasion, it’s a bit more than we like to spend, so we went for lunch instead of dinner (bonus: it’s easier to get a reservation then, too). I started with the duck tartare and then had the beef, and both were fantastic. There was no lactose-free dessert that day, so I had something with chocolate. That was one of our best meals ever, I think. We also went to Garde Manger and, although it was quite a nice meal, we felt a bit let down. I think we had preferred Beaver Hall the previous year.

Apple Galette with Maple Whipped Cream

I’ve got one last recipe to share from what I made over the summer with lactose-free cream. It’s Bon Appétit’s salted-butter apple galette with maple whipped cream. I didn’t have salted butter, so I used some butter and added fleur de sel; that being said, you could also use vegan margarine instead of butter and skip the browning step, though it wouldn’t be as good. I used 1 ½ cups of cream instead of 2 cups and still had more than I needed, so I recommend adjusting those quantities to taste. Also, I made the dough as directed, but the amount was insufficient: I couldn’t have rolled it out any thinner than I did, but it was smaller than stated and I couldn’t fit all my apples in it (There are 2 apples in that picture instead of the 3 it would have taken to make up the full pound). Therefore, I suggest doubling the amounts (since it was delicious), and that’s what I’m writing below. Also, I should have taken that out of the oven 5 minutes sooner, so I’m adjusting the baking times accordingly. This was absolutely delicious!

For the dough
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
12 Tbsp. (1 ½ sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs, beaten to blend

Whisk sugar, salt, and 2 cups flour in a medium bowl. Add butter and rub in with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces remaining. Drizzle egg over butter mixture and mix gently with a fork until dough just comes together. (I did all this in the food processor.)

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth (a few dry spots are okay). Form dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least 2 hours.

For the tart
¼ cup (½ stick) salted butter (see note above)
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
all-purpose flour (for dusting)
1 lb. baking apples (such as Pink Lady; about 2 large), scrubbed, sliced ⅛” thick
3 Tbsp. dark muscovado or dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar (I used raw sugar)
2 cups lactose-free cream (see note above)
2 Tbsp. maple syrup

Place a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 375 °F. Place butter in a small saucepan and scrape in vanilla seeds; add pod. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until butter foams, then browns (be careful not to burn), 5–8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and remove pod.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a rough 14x10” rectangle about ⅛” thick (alternatively, roll out into a 12” round). Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Arrange apples on top, overlapping and leaving a 1½” border. Brush apples with brown butter and sprinkle with muscovado sugar. Lift edges of dough over apples, tucking and overlapping as needed to keep rectangular shape.

Beat egg with 1 tsp. water in a small bowl and brush crust with egg wash. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake, rotating once, until apples are soft and juicy and crust is golden brown, 35–50 minutes. Let cool slightly on baking sheet before slicing.

Beat cream in a medium bowl to medium-soft peaks. Fold in maple syrup and serve alongside galette.

Aquafaba Chocolate Mousse

I had been trying to get this recipe right for a while, before sharing it. There are many variations floating around out there, especially in French (which makes sense, given that both chocolate mousse and aquafaba are originally French). It took some converting, as French recipes usually call for a Lidl brand can of chickpeas, which I obviously don’t have. With a little digging, I found that a standard Lidl can is 400 grams, which corresponds roughly to the 15-ounce cans we have here, and that’s roughly ½ cup of aquafaba (though I once got almost 2/3 cup from such a can). You can watch this video for a basic how-to.

The main problem I ran into was that the mousse didn’t hold. It sometimes liquefied after only a few hours, but even in the best-case scenario, it never held more than a day. I had looked at recipes such as these two in French and these two in English. I remedied blandness by doubling the amount of chocolate, which helped with consistency a bit, but it still fell way short of my expectations. So I started experimenting with a tip I found on the Facebook page of the inventor of aquafaba: microwave a slurry of cornstarch and water, then mix it into the mousse, and it will act as a stabilizer. Unfortunately, without knowing exactly how to do it, it proved to be a very frustrating exercise. If you don’t microwave it long enough, the cornstarch doesn’t get activated, but if you microwave it too long, it turns into a gel or a solid and then you can’t mix it properly into the mousse! By that point, I’d had enough, so I shelved this idea for a while.

Then, over the summer, Clotilde Dusoulier published her version on Chocolate & Zucchini, in which she simply uses cream of tartar as a stabilizer, the same as one would use for egg whites. The recipe makes 6 servings, and somehow, one lone ramekin was still in the fridge on the third day – I can attest that the mousse was still airy and solid. As a matter of fact, the pictures of the mousse in the cup below were taken on the second day, and as you can see, the texture is still perfect! (The ramekin at the top of the page was eaten later the day the recipe was made.) Her recipe is below. I would of course caution you to use very good chocolate, as that will be the dominant taste. By that time, in Montreal, I had switched to the large, plain tablets of chocolate found near the candy section but so large that I can only imagine baking as their use, such as Lindt – not my favorite, but better here than Baker’s. One thing I love about this recipe is that it uses the same amount (by weight) of chocolate and aquafaba, so you can use whatever the yield of your can of chickpeas is and then adjust the amount of chocolate accordingly, instead of opening a second can for a few tablespoons’ worth!

180 g. (¾ cup) aquafaba, i.e. the drained juices from a 15-oz. can of chickpeas
180 g. high-quality dark chocolate (I prefer semisweet)
¼ tsp. fine sea salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
1 Tbsp. cacao nibs (optional, for garnish)

Have ready 6 ramekins, glasses or cups, with a yield of about a ½-cup each.

Pour the aquafaba in a clean mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the chocolate in a double boiler and heat until just melted. Set aside and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Using an electric mixer or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whisk the aquafaba, salt and cream of tartar to soft peaks (this should take only a few minutes).

Gently stir a third of the whipped aquafaba into the (cooled!) melted chocolate, until fully incorporated.

Fold in the remaining aquafaba in two additions until fully incorporated, using a spatula and lifting the mixture in a circular up-and-down motion to avoid deflating it.

Pour into the prepared cups, level the surface with a spatula, and sprinkle with cacao nibs.

Transfer to the fridge and allow to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

Hazelnut Cake with Sea Salt Caramel

This cake, people. This cake. It’s a hazelnut cake that would be delicious on its own, but it’s served with the greatest caramel sauce you could ever want. I used lactose-free cream, obviously, but I think in this case coconut milk would work well, too. You’ll have more caramel than you need, and leftovers are superb on ice cream or stone fruit. Or straight from the jar.

For the hazelnuts: it just so happened that I had a bag of Bob’s Red Mill hazelnut meal/flour on hand, so I looked up online how much I should be using (to substitute by weight for the whole hazelnuts), and I used 75 g. The recipe worked perfectly for me and I got to skip a whole, noisy step. You could probably get similar results with almonds.

For the cake
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (I used margarine)
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup blanched hazelnuts (or 75 g., see note above)
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp. raw or granulated sugar

For the sauce and assembly
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
¾ cup lactose-free cream (see note above)
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine
½ Tbsp. flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)

For the cake
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease an 8”-diameter cake pan. Line with a parchment round; grease parchment. Dust pan with flour.

Pulse hazelnuts and 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar in a food processor until finely ground; set aside 2 Tbsp. nut mixture.

Whisk baking powder, salt, 1 cup flour, and remaining nut mixture in a medium bowl.

Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat ½ cup butter and remaining granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions. Reduce speed to low and mix in dry ingredients. Scrape batter into prepared pan, and sprinkle with reserved nut mixture and raw sugar.

Bake until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center of cake comes out clean, 40–45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let cake cool in pan before turning out.

For the sauce and assembly
Bring granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 2 Tbsp. water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture turns a deep amber color, 8–10 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually add cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in butter and salt. Let cool slightly before serving with cake. (Caramel sauce can be made 5 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Tricots de l'été

Bon, je sais bien que l’été n’est pas fini, mais n’empêche, mes vacances le sont. J’ai mis de côté des projets de tricot que j’avais en tête pour plutôt me concentrer sur des chandails pour les bébés de mes amis (encore; il doit y avoir quelque chose dans l’eau, il faut croire!). J’ai commencé par faire un petit kimono rose, inspiré par la première image de cette page (malgré que c’est très semblable à celui-ci; je pense d’ailleurs que c’est le même patron, mais un peu moins cher chez ce deuxième marchand). Puisque j’aimais l’idée de tricoter avec une couleur moirée, et puisque c’était pour une petite fille née à la fin de juin, j’ai choisi du Cascade Sunseeker Multis en couleur Peachy. Il s’agit d’un mélange de coton et d’acrylique, avec un peu de fil métallique qui donne du brillant, et c’est lavable à la machine! Pour le ruban, c’était mon reste de ruban rose à pois blanc de ce projet. Remarquez que j’en avais nettement moins que ce qu’il « fallait » selon le patron, mais j’en avais bien assez dans les faits.

J’ai ajouté un chapeau à l’ensemble avec le Stella Pixie Hat, que j’aime beaucoup tricoter. J’ai pris un bouton de ma collection; il vient à l’origine d’un lot de boutons roses en vrac sur Etsy.


Ensuite, j’ai travaillé sur le patron Camilla Babe (qui, soit dit en passant, est aussi disponible en tailles enfant et adulte). C’était pour les jumelles d’une amie, elles aussi nées fin juin. J’ai vraiment adoré tricoter le motif à l’avant! C’était un peu pénible de faire les manches, mais on les joint sans couture ensuite, et ça aussi, j’aime ça! Je les trouve par contre un peu longues, alors je recommanderais de les faire plus courtes que sur le patron… J’ai choisi de la laine Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino de couleur Duck et Fuchsia. C’est un mélange de laine mérinos, de microfibre et de cachemire. Et apparemment que ça aussi, ça peut se laver à la machine! En tout cas, c’était doux à souhait. Il me restait une balle de laine dans chaque cas (sur quatre), alors j’ai aussi fait des Stella Pixie Hats pour les petites, avec des boutons de ma collection.


Puis j’ai fait un petit chandail pour des amis qui auront leur premier bébé en novembre. Il me restait de la laine rouge (du premier chandail de ce billet), alors j’ai jeté mon dévolu sur le patron Jeudi, qui se tricote d’un seul morceau. Je ne m’étais pas rendu compte que le dos était ouvert, mais j’imagine que c’est plus pratique pour un nouveau-né (malgré que l’ouverture dans le dos, c’est peut-être plus sécuritaire côté boutons, mais ça ne me semble pas vraiment plus pratique!). J’ai pris des boutons qui sont dans ma collection depuis 2014; ils viennent aussi d’Etsy à l’origine.


Enfin, j’ai tricoté un petit chandail bleu pour ma nièce. Il s’agit du patron Petite Facile. Pour la laine, j’ai utilisé de la laine mérinos de style Calypso chez Luna Grey Fiber Arts, couleur Marquesas. Il m’en a fallu deux balles pour faire la taille 2T; pour la taille 4T, il faudrait une troisième balle. Le bouton est également de chez Etsy. Alors, ça s’appelle Petite Facile, et c’est vrai que ce n’est pas compliqué. Cependant, j’ai détricoté et recommencé les manches deux fois, et il y a toujours une petite démarcation que je n’aime pas trop à cause des rangs courts… Mais en gros, c’est un bon patron, je pense que ça lui fera un bon chandail pour l’hiver.

Almond Tart with Stone Fruit and Lime Meringue

This Bon Appétit recipe is perfect for late summer. I’m using the same title they did, though I disagree with the terminology: a meringue is baked, whereas these egg whites are not. You could replace it with an aquafaba meringue, or omit the garnish entirely if raw eggs are a concern. You could also replace the topping with sliced almonds and nothing else. I served this with cherries, though peaches and plums would have been good, too. Stone fruit is obviously a great choice because of the almonds, but I see no reason why something like raspberries wouldn’t work. This was a really great dessert, though! I’ll definitely make it again.

For the crust
1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 pinch of kosher salt
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, beaten to blend

For the filling
1 cup lactose-free milk
⅓ cup lactose-free cream
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4 large egg yolks
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 pinch of kosher salt
1 cup sliced almonds
¾ cup powdered sugar
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, melted, slightly cooled
3 large egg whites
¼ cup chopped white chocolate

For the almonds and assembly
¾ cup skin-on almonds, chopped
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, melted, slightly cooled
1 Tbsp. plus ¼ cup granulated sugar
2 large egg whites
½ tsp. finely grated lime zest, plus more for serving
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 lb. mixed stone fruit (such as peaches, plums, and cherries), pitted and sliced

For the crust
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; save pod for another use. Add butter and toss to coat. Work in butter with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size pieces of butter remaining. (I did the whole thing in a food processor.)

Using a fork, gently mix in egg, then turn out onto a clean surface and gently knead just until dough comes together (do not overwork). Press dough into bottom and up sides of a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (I used a sprinform pan) with your fingers, then flatten with the bottom of a large measuring cup. Cover and chill until very firm, at least 1 hour. 


Line dough with parchment or foil, leaving an overhang. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake crust until edges are dry, 20–25 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and bake crust again until dry but not quite browned, 10–15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.(The crust can be made a day ahead and kept tightly wrapped at room temperature.)

For the filling
Combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan, then scrape in vanilla seeds; add pod. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; discard vanilla pod.

Whisk egg yolks, granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl until very pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add hot milk mixture to egg mixture. Transfer back to saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and holds whisk marks, about 2 minutes.


Press pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto surface; chill until cold, at least 2 hours. 


Pulse almonds in a food processor until very finely chopped. Add powdered sugar and butter and process until smooth. Add egg whites; process just to combine. Fold into chilled pastry cream, then fold in white chocolate. (The filling can be made 2 days ahead; cover and chill.) 


For the almonds and assembly
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Combine almonds, butter, and 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar in a small bowl. Scrape filling into cooled crust and top with almonds. Bake tart until filling is puffed and set and edges are golden brown, 45–50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool. (Tart can be baked up to 2 days ahead; store tightly wrapped at room temperature.)

Just before serving, make the meringue. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat egg whites until frothy, about 1 minute. With motor running, gradually add remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar; beat until stiff peaks form, 5–7 minutes. Mix in ½ tsp. lime zest and lime juice. 


Serve tart topped with lime meringue, fruit, and more lime zest.

S'more Pie

I made a S’more pie, with cream and chocolate, because I couldn’t help myself. I used a typical graham cracker crust, but I did see another recipe (for a chocolate truffle tart) that called for using Petit-Lu-type cookies in the crust instead, and that looked really decadent! Of course, ir’s no longer s’more without the graham, but hey, who am I to judge? This pie was really good, though I would warn you to use quality chocolate for this. I used Baker’s dark chocolate, and it wasn’t sweet enough or good enough for my taste. I wouldn’t go past semi-sweet next time.

For the crust
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (about 12 crackers)
6 Tbsp. margarine, melted and cooled
2 Tbsp. sugar

For the filling
1 cup lactose-free cream
8 oz. quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Combine crumbs, margarine and sugar in a bowl. Mix well and transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Press evenly over bottom and sides. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Bring cream to a boil in a small pan over medium-high heat. Place chocolate in a bowl; pour cream on top. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Pour into crust; bake until set, about 25 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Just before serving, preheat broiler to high. Set an oven rack 5 inches from heat source. Spread marshmallows over top of pie. Broil until toasted, watching carefully to prevent scorching, 20 to 30 seconds.

Zucchini-Chickpea Fritters with Red Onion Jam

I always seem to have trouble figuring out what meatless meal I’m going to make next. I think I have fewer to choose from in my bookmarked recipes, or sometimes they call for something seasonal and it just doesn’t work out for that week. I did try Sir Ian McKellen’s scrambled eggs; I was intrigued by his method, which is very different from mine. In the end, while I liked his eggs, I think I prefer mine. I also made a ranch quick bread, for which I had really high hopes because it seemed delicious (and I had decorated it with chive blossoms, so it looked great, too). Sadly, I found it bland; slices were better the next day, toasted and buttered. I served it with my mother’s potato and leek soup, with lactose-free cream (her recipe is adapted from Anne Lindsay, though I’ve previously posted a vegan one by David Lebovitz which, it should be said, would look silky-smooth if I were to make it with my immersion blender now).

The dish that I really liked, though, was these zucchini-chickpea fritters with red onion jam. I had a little trouble with the consistency of the fritters, as they fell apart easily, so I recommend adjusting that with extra egg and/or flour, to your liking. I also had a bit of trouble setting the heat on the stovetop – it was electric, and the first batch (pictured) came out a nice golden shade, but subsequent batches were darker even though I kept turning down the heat. This reminded me why so many people think they are inept at cooking – it’s not you, it’s just that you’re not cooking with gas! In any event, what I liked most about this dish was the red onion jam, which was both sweet and acidic, and I ended up wanting to eat it with everything. I served the dish with a non-vegetarian side, though: these roasted root vegetables with bacon and maple syrup.

For the red onion jam
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
kosher salt
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

For the fritters
1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cups shredded zucchini
½ cup chickpea flour
½ tsp. kosher salt
vegetable oil, for frying

For the red onion jam
In a nonstick pan or heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sprinkle with salt. Stir and cook until tender and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the water and cook until the onion is very soft and the water has cooked off, about 10 minutes more. Add the vinegar and sprinkle the onions with the sugar. Stir well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, until the vinegar has cooked off completely. Season with salt and set aside.

For the fritters
Preheat the oven to 375 °F.

Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment until they form a thick paste. Transfer to a large bowl and add the onion and zucchini. Use clean hands to mix well, then form the mixture into 10 cakes; set aside.

Combine the chickpea flour and the salt on a large plate. Gently dredge each cake in the flour, patting it onto all sides of the cake.

Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a large frying pan or skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 3 or 4 cakes at a time and cook until golden-brown, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the cakes to a rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with cooking the remaining cakes, adding more oil to the pan as needed.

When all the cakes are cooked, bake until hot and a deeper golden color, 10 to 15 minutes more. Serve hot with the red onion marmalade.

Rhubarb Compote

Since I got to Montreal in June, I had time to try several rhubarb recipes this year (for some reason, rhubarb was unavailable in San Antonio this spring). I tried it in savory applications, like a sauce served with roasted pork and in a chicken salad, where it was finely sliced alongside celery (both of those recipes are from the July 2015 issue of Coup de Pouce, but I can’t find them on their website). I also made rhubarb soda; my recipe for rhubarb syrup was a hybrid of this regular one and that vanilla one; it was great, but I have no pictures. Of the two remaining recipes that I thought of posting, one was a rhubarb upside-down cake. It was certainly the most photogenic of the two, but even then, I would have needed to be a food stylist with access to a few pounds of reddish-pink rhubarb to make it as nice as in the original photo – I did what I could with my limited green and red pieces. It was good cake, though!


The recipe I will post is not photogenic, but I don’t care, because it was by far the best rhubarb recipe I made this year. It’s Dana Cree’s rhubarb compote, which I found on Orangette last year. I hope you won’t mind too much that I’m sharing it after rhubarb season, since you could actually make it with frozen rhubarb. I had it with yogurt and it was fantastic; it would also be good with lactose-free ice cream, or pavlova, or maybe even on crêpes or the like.

1 lb. (455 g.) rhubarb stalks, trimmed and sliced into ¾-inch chunks
½ to ¾ cup (100 to 150 g.) sugar (I used 2/3 cup)
2 Tbsp. (28 g.) unsalted butter (or vegan margarine)
2 Tbsp. orange liqueur, such as Cointreau, Grand Marnier, and the like (I used Triple Sec)

In a medium bowl, toss the rhubarb with the sugar. Set it aside while you melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the rhubarb, the sugar, and the orange liqueur. Allow to cook, undisturbed, for about 2 minutes, until the rhubarb begins to release its juices. Then gently stir, and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb is very juicy and those juices begin to thicken. The compote is ready when the rhubarb is tender and beginning to fall apart and the juices look thick, about 10 to 15 minutes. (This is a cook-it-until-it-looks-right-to-you situation: trust your judgement.)

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and serve cold, cool, or warm.

Strawberry Shortcakes

It’s a little amazing how few posts I wrote over the summer. As best as I can figure out, being in a different environment made me fall into a different routine, and since I didn’t have a comfortable place at which to sit with my computer, I rarely blogged. I did make some good recipes, though! This recipe from Bon Appétit was possibly the best strawberry shortcake recipe I’ve ever had. This one calls for cream, but you could use a vegan substitute. There are still some late-season strawberries available, I believe, so you don’t have to shelve this one until next year!

The batter called for the addition of hard-boiled egg yolks. I’ve made a recipe like that before, where they were passed through a sieve, but I rarely come across this ingredient. Cooked egg yolks, as it turns out, help prevent the formation of too much gluten, yet don’t weigh down the batter. These shortcakes are like a cross between sweet sponge cakes and flakier biscuits; I thought they were perfect. Also, the combination of cooked and fresh strawberries here was genius! It really makes the dish.

For the shortcakes
2 hard-boiled egg yolks, cooled
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. semolina flour or fine-grind cornmeal
1 Tbsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
6 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter (or margarine), cut into pieces
⅔ cup plus 2 Tbsp. lactose-free cream
sanding or granulated sugar (for sprinkling)

For the assembly
1½ lbs. strawberries (about 1 quart), hulled, halved, quartered if large; divided
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
kosher salt
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice, divided
1 cup lactose-free cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
½ vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

For the shortcakes
Pulse egg yolks, both flours, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until only pea-size pieces remain. Drizzle in ⅔ cup cream, then pulse 2–3 times to barely incorporate. Transfer dough to a work surface and gently fold on top of itself several times just to bring it together and work in any dry spots.

Using a 2-oz. ice cream scoop, make 6 balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet; do not flatten. (Or measure out mounded scoops with a ¼-cup measuring cup. Using an ice cream scoop to shape the dough makes for a compact, mounded dome, allowing the cakes to open upward as they bake instead of flattening out.) Cover and chill until cold, 20–25 minutes.


Preheat oven to 350 °F. Brush tops of shortcakes with remaining 2 Tbsp. cream and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until golden and sides are firm to the touch, 28–32 minutes (I’d bake them a bit less next time; mine were too golden for me.). Let cool. The shortcakes will keep for a day in an airtight container, but are best served warm.).

For the assembly
Toss strawberries, granulated sugar, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl to combine. Transfer half of strawberries to a large saucepan and add 1 Tbsp. water; let remaining strawberries macerate while you bring strawberries in saucepan to a gentle simmer over medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally and reducing heat if needed to keep at a low simmer, until strawberries are starting to break down and become jammy and liquid is syrupy, 12–18 minutes. Let cool, then stir in 1 tsp. lemon juice. Stir remaining 1 tsp. lemon juice into macerated strawberries.

Combine cream, powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; reserve pod for another use. Beat cream until soft peaks form.


Split shortcakes and divide strawberry compote, macerated strawberries, and whipped cream among bottoms. Close with shortcake tops.