Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal Singles

I made this recipe on a whim, when something else I meant to make fell through because I didn’t have enough eggs. I did have bananas in the freezer, though, so this was perfect! I got the recipe from Fitness Magazine, via Pinterest. It reminded me a bit of these wholesome banana chocolate breakfast bars, except that I preferred the singles. I changed the recipe and used 2 eggs instead of 1 egg and 2 egg whites, since I really didn’t have enough eggs, but my way is easier. There isn’t much sugar in these, so they’re great for breakfast! They’re not quite muffins, even though they’re baked in a muffin tin, so oatmeal cups or oatmeal singles is an accurate name for them.

3 cups old-fashioned oats
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 ¼ cup lactose-free milk
¾ cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Lightly mist 18 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray (note that I only needed 15).

Combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed banana, milk and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until blended together. Mix in chocolate chips.

Spoon the oatmeal mixture evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake uncovered for 18 to 22 minutes or until oatmeal is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Once cool, use a fork to gingerly unmold.

Product reviews - Daiya, Vosges and Garden Lites

So I finally got to try Daiya’s pizzas. It’s a relatively new product, but it had been in the pipeline for a while, and I was really looking forward to it. I tried the fire-roasted vegetable and cheese-lover varieties. They are made in a “dedicated gluten-free, peanut-free and tree nut-free (except coconut oil) facility”, and the cheese is vegan. First, I really like that the fire-roasted vegetables pizza actually had a lot of veggies on it, because many times one is disappointed when comparing the image on the box with the contents of the box. That pizza was good, but the problem was the baking directions: they call for baking the pizza for 20 to 25 minutes at a screaming-hot 500 °F. As you can see by the result, that is definitely too much, especially for a thin pizza like that.

So when I tried the second one, I looked online and realized that, while the Daiya website doesn’t address this, many commenters said they baked theirs at lower temperatures or for less time. So I baked the second one at 450 °F for 20 minutes, but the problem there was that the dough was still raw in the middle, even though the edges were beginning to burn.

As I was looking at the box just now while typing this, I noticed that the cooking instructions are on a sticker, so I peeled it back and saw that the original instructions were to bake it directly on the oven rack for 13 to 17 minutes, again at 500 °F. I can see why that would be a mistake, because the dough goes through an incredibly soft stage during baking, so it does need the support of a baking sheet or pizza stone.

While I haven’t found the right way to bake them, I have to say that the toppings are really good. I like Daiya cheese to begin with, and it’s great to have it on a pizza. I think that if I had accurate baking times, I’d definitely buy this again (as it is now, I hesitate, because it’s significantly more expensive than regular thin-crust frozen pizzas, so the trial-and-error method for baking times would be expensive). American Flatbread’s Vegan Harvest pizzas are fool-proof, though there’s only one flavor.


I also tried Vosges’s Crispy Carrot Bar, made with milk chocolate. In one word: Wow! This actually works. The carrots are cooked in orange juice, then crisped in the oven, and those two flavors go well together. I can actually taste the carrots, which remind me of the carrot chips at Whole Foods. I’ll admit that I would prefer darker chocolate, and it eventually gets on my nerves that hard pieces of the carrot stay stuck in my molars after the chocolate has melted, but again, the flavors in this chocolate bar totally work.



I also tried Garden Lites’ muffins. I had enjoyed their soufflés, and now their muffins are finally available in my area (at Target once again!). As a reminder, Garden Lites makes frozen products heavy on the vegetables, gluten-free, nut-free and dairy-free (though they contain eggs and therefore are not vegan). The muffins are pretty small, so I would say that a serving is two muffins, not one. They defrost quickly and consistently in the microwave, though, a definite plus. The banana chocolate chip muffins were really good. I could see little flecks of green in the crumb, but not many, so I’m surprised they’re still the first ingredient! In the chocolate muffins, zucchini and carrots are the first ingredients, but the chocolate hides them well. The chocolate flavor was actually pretty deep, and not too sweet at all. The crumb was moist and spongy; I wouldn’t have known they were gluten-free if I hadn’t read it on the box, but I’m not going to say that I was surprised at the pleasant texture of a gluten-free product because it’s happened so often that I’m no longer surprised. Plus, they are chock-full of iron, and both kinds pack 5 g of fiber per 56-g muffin! I really like them and might pick them up on a more regular basis (we do find ourselves going to Target more often now that we have a wee family member).

Lactation Cookies

If you’re well informed, you’ll know that all mammals produce lactose in their milk (well, except for pinnipeds, but you’re not going to find that milk on store shelves anytime soon, so for all intents and purposes, mammals make lactose). According to most sources, though, humans on average make more lactose than any other mammal. So I find it somewhat ironic that I, Lactose-Free Girl with a lactose-free diet, am currently producing more lactose than any other species!

I’ll begin by just coming out and saying it: the first few weeks after birth, breastfeeding is gorram hard. I knew it would be hard, because every book I read said so, every website and blogger said so, and every mother I spoke to said so. It started off hard, and I thought, “Okay, that is what I was expecting. I’ve got this.” Then it got harder, and I decided to go see a lactation consultant about it to get some help. And literally overnight, it got so incredibly hard that I had a little emotional breakdown. I was lucky enough to see a lactation consultant that day, and after the use of a breast pump, nipple shields, and another consultation, plus tons of practice (for both me and the Little Prince, I might add), I am now at the point where breastfeeding is pretty easy. My advice to any expectant mothers who plan on breastfeeding would be to find out what your local resources are (lactation centers, La Leche League, etc.) and to make an appointment for one week after giving birth – have your partner call the lactation consultant along with family members to announce the birth, or if you live in an area where it takes longer to get an appointment, make it for about a week after your due date and keep the consultant posted. [End of PSA.]

As far as lactation supplements are concerned, I wanted to share my experience in case it helps anyone else. I pre-emptively took supplements the day after the Little Prince was born: since I have trouble swallowing pills, I went with a tincture of fenugreek and blessed thistle, taken three times a day. It tastes vile, but for me, it helped (which I know because when I stopped for a few days, my milk production went down, and then increased again once I resumed taking the supplement). You don’t need to take it the entire time you breastfeed, though; after one or two bottles, you’re pretty much good to go.

There are also foods that are thought to boost milk production: brewers’ yeast, flaxseed, and oatmeal (see here for more information on the subject). Again, I’m not saying that it will work for every woman, but for me, it really made a difference, to the point where I had too much milk and had to dose things carefully. For example, oatmeal granola sprinkled with flaxseed meal and brewers’ yeast worked TOO well after roughly 36 hours (with one bowl per breakfast). But there are gentler ways to add those ingredients to your diet. Like cookies.

The recipe I used is adapted from Peaceful Parenting (although I’ve also seen some here and here that are more like traditional chocolate chip cookies, plus a gluten-free option here, to name only those). What all these cookies have in common are the three ingredients mentioned above (and, often, nut butter); they can easily be made vegan, if you wish. I still have some in the freezer, and they come in handy for when I know I’ll be pumping and want to increase my supply ahead of time. I’ll probably use them when I start weaning, too, to keep up my supply even with fewer feedings. Note that while these ingredients increase lactation, they would not INDUCE it, so these cookies are perfectly safe as a treat for non-lactating women, men and children. The Engineer enjoyed a few on occasion, but I have a tendency to hoard them for myself. They are actually quite good, and I think I’d just make them without the brewers’ yeast if I weren’t breastfeeding. If I remember correctly, this recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat flour, I think)
1 ¾ cups rolled oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
¾ cup almond butter or peanut butter I used Skippy’s Natural Creamy Peanut Butter)
½ cup butter, softened (I used cold margarine)
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup milled flax (i.e. ground flaxseed)
3 Tbsp. brewers’ yeast
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups (12 oz.) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat nut butter, butter, sugar, brown sugar, flax, brewers’ yeast, water and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, beating after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture, then add chocolate chips (you may need to finish beating by hand).

Roll dough into small balls, about 1 heaping tablespoon per cookie, and place 12 on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten with a fork, if desired, and bake 12 minutes. (If you freeze the balls of dough, just add 2 minutes to the baking for the frozen dough.)

Liens de la semaine

- Saviez-vous qu’on cultive maintenant du safran au Québec? La nouvelle entreprise, Pur Safran, est située à Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, petit village devenu mythique dans mon esprit...

- Un site intéressant sur le métier de câlleur, mettant en vedette Jean-François Berthiaume, du groupe Galant, tu perds ton temps.

- 5 opinions mal informées au sujet des vaccins, parce que malheureusement c’est encore d’actualité…

- Et un petit retour sur le projet de Charte des valeurs au Québec, parce qu’on en parle encore beaucoup… Il est entendu que certaines valeurs ne sont pas compatibles avec les sociétés occidentales. Je pense par exemple à l’enlèvement, au viol et au mariage forcé des petites filles en Éthiopie, ou même à certaines valeurs d’origine religieuses comme celles dénoncées par Ayaan Hirsi Ali (une femme que je respecte beaucoup). Mais là, vu le tollé d’indignation soulevé par la photo de deux femmes portant le niqab pour promener des enfants de garderie (soit dit en passant, je connais la mère d’un des enfants dans cette photo, et je partage leur point de vue), je me retrouve dans l’étrange position de devoir défendre l’intolérance parce que je suis absolument contre la Charte. Cet article de Michèle Ouimet résume le mieux ma pensée. J’ai beau être pour la laïcité de l’État et du gouvernement, je suis aussi pour la liberté de croyances, alors le projet de Charte tel que formulé actuellement m’horripile au plus haut point, tout comme la réaction de certains Québécois vivant surtout hors des métropoles. Comme Maria Mourani, qui n’est plus indépendantiste à cause du projet. C’est de leur réaction dont on parle le plus, et il faudrait une présence médiatique tout aussi assommante de la part des gens qui sont contre le projet!

Tant qu’à parler de chartes, pourquoi ne pas publiciser davantage la Charte québécoise pour une image corporelle saine et diversifiée? Pourquoi ne pas reconnaître, tant qu’à y être, que la diversité culturelle est tout aussi acceptable que la diversité physique?

Coconut Strawberry Muffins

This recipe, found on The Kitchn, was originally called “strawberry cupcakes”, but I really think they’re more of a muffin. This means that I wouldn’t normally frost them; I did so here in an effort to emulate the original recipe, though I used Rice Whip to keep things lactose-free. These muffins, then, use coconut flour, so they are gluten-free (and have the advantage of letting you bake something gluten-free with only one kind of flour, always a plus, though the arrowroot powder might still count). The top of the muffins got a little oily, yet they were still somewhat dry, which is a characteristic of the coconut flour – it absorbs a heck of a lot of moisture. They only faintly taste of coconut, and if your strawberries are in season, those will definitely be the dominant taste.

½ cup coconut flour
1 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
¼ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
½ cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
½ cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Grease 8 muffin cups (the original recipe called for paper liners, but I found that they stuck to the muffins way too much, hence the greasing I recommend instead).

In a large bowl, combine the coconut flour, arrowroot powder, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. Blend the wet ingredients into the coconut flour mixture with a handheld mixer until thoroughly combined, then fold in the strawberries.

Scoop ¼ cup of batter into each prepared muffin cup. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 1 hour, then serve (with a light frosting if desired).

Chickpea Salad with Red Onion, Sumac and Lemon Juice

This chickpea salad recipe from The Kitchn was wonderful! I’m enjoying the tartness of sumac (especially since eating this), and it goes really well with pomegranate molasses. In order to make sure the red onion wouldn’t be too sharp, I shaved it thinly using a vegetable peeler (a tip I picked up on Pinterest). The original recipe called for cooking chickpeas, but I don’t really have time for that these days, so I used canned chickpeas instead. Made that way, it’s a really quick meal, and it only gets better in the fridge. I didn’t use mint this time because I really didn’t have much of it in the garden, but it would be a great addition.



3 cups dry chickpeas, cooked (or 4 15-oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed)
1 large red onion
1 Tbsp. sumac
1 tsp. chili powder (I used some Korean pepper, you know me)
1 tsp. salt
1 bunch Italian parsley, leaves finely chopped
1 large lemon, juiced (about 3 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. pomegranate syrup
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 to 6 sprigs fresh mint

Peel and quarter the onion. Shave it as thin as possible into a large bowl, using a very sharp knife, a vegetable peeler or a mandoline. Stir in the sumac, chili powder, and salt. Use your hands to massage the spices and salt into the onions for several minutes. Drain off any liquid that develops in the bottom of the bowl.

Add the chickpeas and chopped parsley to the onions and use your hands or two forks to toss everything thoroughly. Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and pomegranate syrup and toss with the salad. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Continue tossing until the onions are fully incorporated and no longer in small clumps. Refrigerate until serving (this salad gets better overnight).

Just before serving, finely chop the mint leaves and sprinkle over the salad.

Penne with Italian Sausage and Tomato

I’ve been meaning to blog this recipe for a while, and I didn’t get around to it because… I lost it. I know I have this recipe, I MADE IT for the freezer and had made it multiple times before, but I just couldn’t find it last week. And apparently it’s not even on my own blog! So I emailed my mother (because I got the recipe from her) and she sent me a copy. I believe it’s from an Anne Lindsay cookbook. I like using mild Italian sausage, but you can definitely use something spicier if you want. I made this latest version with pasta that contains vegetables (I think it was squash), because I figured I shouldn’t turn down extra veggies when I can sneak them in. The dish is easy to make, and it’s pretty good on a weeknight, though the sausages benefit from being cooked slowly. The Engineer and I both really liked it! This makes about 4-6 servings.

1 lb. Italian sausage (I use mild)
1 lb. penne (or short pasta)
vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz. can tomatoes (undrained), coarsely chopped (I used a can of diced tomatoes)
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
½ cup chopped fresh parsley (this wasn’t in my previous version of the recipe)
salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp. parmesan (optional, and again it wasn’t in my previous version of the recipe)

In an oiled skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink in the middle, about 15-20 minutes. Drain well, cut into thin slices.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until tender but firm; drain and return to pot.

In an oiled nonstick pan, cook onion over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, basil and oregano; simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add cooked sausage. Pour over pasta and toss to mix. Sprinkle with parsley, salt and pepper to taste, and parmesan (if using); toss again and serve.

Batch of links

- I’ve always said that organic foods are not more nutritious than their “regular” counterparts. It looks like I was wrong: organic milk really is better.

- Why Weight?, an article with some very good reasons to use a kitchen scale. Plus a post on The Kitchn on how to train oneself to use a scale when cooking. Personally, while I see how useful a scale is, I often end up measuring things by volume because that’s how North American recipes are written out, which is probably more of a habit than anything else. That being said, I tend to weigh flour when I get to the end of the bag and can’t conveniently use my fluff-scoop-level method, even with a recipe written in volume…

- Have you heard about WikiPearls? There’s an article here and a detailed website here. It’s basically a sphere of food, like ice cream or yogurt, surrounded by a flavored shell or skin so as to make it portable. I could really go for the mango sorbet in coconut shell!

- I talked about Zero8 recently, in French, but now I can do so in English. The restaurant had to close last month, due to their rent being too high, but the owners have now undertaken what might be the largest crowd funding project in Quebec: trying to raise $250,000 to reopen, and possibly open second and third locations in the province. The Engineer and I have made a donation (about 80% of which will be returned as gift certificates; if the project fails, we get all our money back). I don’t know of any other restaurant that takes allergens and food restrictions so seriously, so I believe it is important to encourage them and I hope you’ll join in.

- On a related note, did you know there’s an app that can find gluten-free fare based on your location? It’s called Find Me Gluten-Free, and it’s free!

- Also, I wrote before about a food allergen detector, though I haven’t heard any recent development from that particular device. I did, however, read about another one: a Toronto-based company is in the process of making TellSpec. This device has a scanner and you read the results on your smartphone. It works by analyzing the contents of what it’s pointed at, so if you point it toward food, it should be able to tell you what allergens are in it. It has more holistic goals, too, so it could also tell you about environmental contaminants, for example. It should be on the market in August 2014, at a price-point between $350 and $400, though the price should gradually diminish over the coming years. Let’s hope it works!

- Broccoli’s Extreme Makeover, about a (sadly, fictional) campaign to popularize broccoli. I honestly think that, coupled with a few good recipes, this would work!

- Here’s a link to a very long article (fair warning) titled How junk food can end obesity. My friend Jen shared it, and she was right when she said it was really interesting!

- I heard about a new-to-me grocery store, Aldi, about which I’m curious. I even learned more about Trader Joe’s!

- An article about famed cookbook author Paula Wolfert, who is coping with the early stages of cognitive impairment by cooking.

- Nigel Slater’s 5 rules for the home cook, with which I agree.

- An interesting NYTimes article about the allergy epidemic. It examines the link between the environment (including the mother’s environment during pregnancy) and allergies in the population. It seems that early exposure to certain microbes actually decrease the subsequent risk of allergies to those same microbes.

- It also seems that microbes can affect our emotional state. Can you imagine if modifying one’s microbiome somehow helped treat depression?

- You know how the American Humane Association gives its seal of approval to movies, certifying that no animals were harmed? It’s apparently meaningless.

- His Day Is Done, Dr. Maya Angelou’s tribute poem to Nelson Mandela, was good to hear.

- Interactive billboards tell you where the airplane overhead is going. EVERY airport should install these!

- And on a festive note: WestJet wins Christmas, plus a 10-month-old’s Christmas wish list.

Batch of links - Chemicals

I had a recent talk with the Engineer about chemicals in our immediate environment. [On a side note, I think that “chemical” might have become a word with a new meaning, the way “organic” has. Organic used to refer to carbon-based life forms and materials, but now it refers to the absence of certain pesticides for produce and the absence of growth hormones and antibiotics, as well as more ethical treatment, for animals. I think that chemicals are now thought of as potentially harmful/toxic man-made substances, as opposed to simply naturally occurring molecular structures that make up every thing you can think of.] So I decided to do a little round-up of some links I have on the subject…

- First, The story of cosmetics. I’ve been sitting on this for a while; it’s really interesting.

- There’s also Unacceptable Levels, “a film about chemicals in our body… and how they got there.”

- Many of the products that want to raise awareness about breast cancer (for example) actually contain carcinogens. I’m not sure if the CEOs are oblivious or hypocritical, but I don’t understand how this can just continue for years on end without major companies putting their money where their mouth is!

- I would love to see a well-constructed scientific study on the effect of GMOs (at least, the ones doused in pesticides). Seralini’s controversial study was retracted, not because it wasn’t valid, but because it had too many flaws to be conclusive. So we still don’t know one way or another, and I find that bothersome.

- I’ve linked to this before, but some pesticides have been linked to endometriosis.

- And just recently, GMOs have been proposed as a trigger for gluten sensitivity – or at least, they are aggravating it. According to this study, it would be certain crops modified to be pesticide-resistant that are problematic: the pesticides work by puncturing insect cells and killing them, but it might be doing the same to cells in the human intestine, increasing their permeability to gluten and making some people more sensitive than they would be otherwise. The actual article, a literature review, is here. It even suggests that our gut bacteria may have integrated a piece of GM DNA and are manufacturing its own pesticides! As with Seralini’s study, more data would be needed to conclude with absolute certainty, but it’s the first time I see some evidence in this regard. It even suggests that GMOs can increase the prevalence of food allergies…

Batch of links - Tourism

I realized I had a lot of links pertaining to specific cities, so here’s a tourism interlude!

- A food lover’s guide to Austin, with farmers’ markets, grocery stores, specialty shops, etc.

- The ultimate guide to food trucks in San Antonio – I’ve got to start trying some of those!

- Also, 52 things every San Antonian must do. I’ll refer to this when we start our monthly outings again…

- A series of sponsored posts about Montreal food I stumbled upon on the Bon Appétit website: the many faces of Montreal; Montreal, a city for eating; shopping in the markets; the French roots of Montreal cuisine; and vegetarian cuisine. More to see on Tourisme Montréal. This made me both homesick and hungry.

- Montreal: A Timelapse Discovery. This isn’t actually about food, but it’s fantastic.

- MMMM! Montreal, a food travel article that was published in a local magazine. I was just flipping through the pages, minding my own business, when I saw an image that I recognized immediately as being in Quebec – it is the first one at the link, taken at Montreal’s Jean Talon Market.

- In parallel, Travel Tex has been putting tourism ads in French-language magazines. It turns out that they have information in 8 languages on their tourism website, including French, which is awesome. They’re still using stereotypes and showcasing their shopping in the Coup de Pouce I read, even though women have interests other than shopping, but I appreciate the effort.

- Finally, I got an unsolicited email through this blog that, for once, turned out to be interesting. Sandals and Beaches Resorts now take into consideration guests’ food restrictions and create safe menus. Watch this video to find out more. I’m not saying I would base a vacation on this because of lactose intolerance, but I can totally understand how someone with life-threatening allergies or celiac disease might! In any event, I think this is really good news.

Turkey and Mushroom Risotto

One of the reasons I wanted to make a turkey on Thanksgiving this year instead of just turkey breasts is that I wanted leftovers so I could try this turkey and mushroom risotto from Bon Appétit. I didn’t have turkey stock, so I used vegetarian “chickn” broth instead, and I found that 6 cups gave me the right consistency (though leftovers could have used more broth). This was absolutely delicious! Honestly, it’s hard to go wrong with risotto, especially if it’s got parmesan.

6-8 cups turkey stock
4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter or margarine, divided
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cups assorted fresh mushrooms (preferably wild, but white buttons will do), thinly sliced
2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
1 cup shredded leftover turkey meat (optional, but that’s kind of the point)
½ cup shredded parmesan
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

Bring stock to a simmer in a medium pot over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Cover and keep warm.

Meanwhile, melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a large pot over medium heat until it begins to foam. Add onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and translucent and just beginning to turn golden, about 5 minutes.

Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, and any liquid released has evaporated, 5-7 minutes.

Add rice; stir to coat. Add ½ cup warm stock and stir constantly until liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock by ½-cupfuls, stirring constantly, until rice is tender but still firm to the bite, about 20 minutes. Add leftover turkey meat, if using; stir to combine and to warm through, adding a little stock or water if necessary to keep mixture creamy, about 3 minutes.

Stir parmesan and remaining 1 Tbsp. butter into risotto. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among warm bowls. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Latkes for Thanksgivukkah

Since the Engineer, the Little Prince and I had Thanksgiving dinner with friends, we decided to contribute a little something special: latkes. It was the first time since the 1800s that Thanksgiving and Hanukkah coincided, and apparently it won’t happen again for another 70,000 years, so latkes seemed like the only appropriate way to celebrate. This time, I went with this recipe, found via ”A few keys to transcendent latkes” on The Kitchn. Spoiler alert: the keys are the correct ratio of potato to onion to binder, the correct oil temperature, and salting the latkes immediately after frying them. (I think after this, I only have three recipes left to try. Then there should be a showdown at some point…) I really liked these latkes, but I think I’ve been spoiled by my duck fat latkes and should probably use that exclusively to fry latkes from now on. The recipe below makes about 40 latkes.

10 russet potatoes
4 yellow onions, peeled and halved
4 eggs
½ cup matzoh meal (roughly)
canola oil
kosher salt
lactose-free sour cream, apple sauce or sugar, for serving

Preheat the oven to 250 °F.

Peel the potatoes and plunge them in a large bowl with cold water. Either cut them into large chunks, and then shred them and the onions in a food processor, OR keep the potatoes and onions whole and grate them on the large holes of a box grater. Personally, I use the food processor.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly and set aside. Transfer a few handfuls of shredded potatoes and onions to a double-thickness of paper towels, and squeeze out as much liquid as you can muster. Place in the bowl with the eggs and repeat with remaining potatoes and onions. You'll use quite a few paper towels, so be prepared. (I have a dish towel that is now my latke dish towel, and I find it SO much more efficient than paper towels, and easier to handle, too!)

Stir in the matzoh meal and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well with a fork, making sure to distribute the eggs thoroughly.

Heat a few glugs of oil in a large heavy skillet (you'll use about ¼ cup oil at first, but you'll keep adding more) over medium-high heat. I like using two skillets at the same time, to speed things up. To see if the oil is ready, put in a pinch of potato mixture; if it sizzles and turns golden in about 10 seconds, the oil is ready. Use an ice cream scoop or ¼-cup measure to form the latkes; drop in the oil and flatten gingerly with a spatula. Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. As you proceed, the pan will get hotter and the oil will need to be replenished. Adjust the heat and add new oil as necessary. Carefully remove any burnt particles.

When latkes are done, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle immediately with salt. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and keep hot in the oven. Repeat until you've cooked all the latkes.
Serve hot, with lactose-free sour cream, apple sauce or sugar (a Hungarian tradition passed down on the Engineer’s paternal side). I like ending things with sour cream AND sugar on a single latke, but confess that as a side, I eat them plain, with sour cream if it’s lactose-free, or with apple sauce.

Thanksgiving dinner

This year, we were invited for Thanksgiving dinner by one of the Engineer’s colleagues and his family. We had also had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with them in 2011, so we accepted gratefully. Since it was also Hanukkah, we brought latkes, and the Engineer also made his gingerbread. That being said, I still have a stockpile of Thanksgiving recipes I want to try, so we decided to have Thanksgiving at our house on Wednesday so that I could make a dent in my stash! This year’s spread was pretty close to the 2011 Real Simple menu: no-knead onion rolls, cider-glazed turkey, gravy, sausage and apple stuffing, brown sugar-glazed carrots with rosemary and pecans, and sweet potato pie, plus fluffy baked mashed potatoes from last September’s issue. And then I made turkey mushroom risotto with the leftovers. I’ll just give links to the recipes here, because otherwise it’d be too clunky of a post.


I made the onion rolls with white flour (not white whole wheat), and I have to admit that they were better than most breads I’ve made. I made these on Tuesday, because there’s no way I could have made the whole meal in one day with the Little Prince in the house! The Engineer took care of him while I cooked. (Plus, I needed the baking dish again for the stuffing.) The onion rolls weren’t as hard as I had made them out to be in my head. Somehow, bread never is, especially with a stand mixer! They were delicious, too, though there were too many for us to eat. I used real butter here and I was fine. I’d definitely make these again for a crowd!


For the cider-glazed turkey, the Engineer managed to find a relatively small bird, just under 9 lbs., so it didn’t take too long to bake. I actually took it out of the oven before it was completely glazed – the cider only goes on during the last 30 minutes or so. I actually read this year something that I didn’t know about roasting a turkey (or maybe I once knew it and had forgotten): basting the turkey while it’s in the oven does not keep it moist; it only helps the skin crisp up. The quality of the meat has more to do with how juicy it’ll be, and basting the turkey after it has come out of the oven and is resting achieves no purpose other than making the skin soggy, basically the opposite of what we want. I really enjoyed this turkey, which had simple flavors and was pretty easy to make, too. Note that I used margarine instead of butter. I’m now considering making turkey more often; I’m used to seeing it only for certain holidays or gatherings, but it’s a really inexpensive way to get lean protein for the week!


For the gravy, I didn’t actually follow a recipe. I almost didn’t make any, because I’d never made it before. But I wanted a little something to moisten the meat, especially since I opted not to make cranberry sauce this year (the Engineer had decided that he didn’t want any, and I didn’t want to eat all of it by myself). So I remembered watching my friend Rob make gravy: you start by making a roux, then you pour the pan juices through a sieve and into your saucepan while whisking. I didn’t get the proportions right, as I had too much roux, so I thinned it out a bit with water (though broth would have been better). It was delicious, though, easy to make, and a great accompaniment! What a great way to use up pan juices, too. I don’t have a gravy boat, so I made do with a little pitcher that I normally use for maple syrup.



Now on to the stuffing. The Engineer said that it’s his favorite part of holiday meals, and he enjoys it even more than the turkey! I’ll keep that in mind for future years. So I made the recipe from Real Simple instead of the Epicurious one I had in my bookmarks, because both had the apples and sausage that appealed to me, but I didn’t feel like parsnip that week. I find it interesting that the former had 6 times as much broth as the latter, though! The recipe I used called for baguette, but the other recipe called for sourdough, and I think that would be good too (and in any case, a good alternative if you can’t get your hands on good baguette, which is sometimes the case here). I really liked this stuffing, though I think I’d cut the pieces of bread even smaller next time. I used mild Italian sausage, but you could adjust that depending on what your favorite sausage is. I’m suddenly thinking this would be great with Whole Foods’ chicken apple sausage…


As for the side dishes, I halved the brown sugar-glazed carrots recipe. I also minced the rosemary leaves into the dish instead of leaving the sprig whole, which meant that I didn’t remove the rosemary at the end. While I enjoyed the dish, I would consider making it without the nuts next time… I also made these fluffy baked mashed potatoes. They appealed to me originally because they contain cream cheese, which is delicious, and because they are mixed with beaten eggs before being baked, so I was attracted by the novelty of the whole thing. In the end, though, I made a lactose-free version by using Greek yogurt instead of the cream cheese. It still had some of the tang that I would have lost with a soy substitute, but it wasn’t as pronounced as the taste of cream cheese. I have to say, though, that the recipe calls for much more butter/margarine and milk than I usually put in mashed potatoes, but the texture (before adding eggs) was wonderful! It’s giving me ideas for next time I make something like this. Anyway, I didn’t quite get the top browned enough because I baked it with the stuffing while the turkey was resting, and it was either burn the stuffing or not broil the mashed potatoes, and I made a judgment call.


And finally, dessert: sweet potato pie, a classic. I had actually been putting off that recipe for a while, because it calls for sweetened condensed milk, which is full of lactose and I didn’t have an equivalent. But I realized that I had two substitutes bookmarked: one from Cooks.com, where you just mix a bunch of ingredients that don’t really have anything to do with milk, and one from GoDairyFree.org, in which you mix a non-dairy milk with sugar and let it reduce. Since I at least recognized the process in the second recipe, that’s the one I used. I made it with rice milk, and essentially, I made a slightly less thick version of brown rice syrup, which is perfectly logical. Note that a 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk is measured by weight, not by volume, so you don’t have to adjust the quantities (you’re looking for 300 mL, or just over a cup of fluid). For this pie, I also didn’t use real sweet potatoes, preferring 2 15-oz. cans of sweet potato purée. This actually made too much filling for the pie, I suspect; I used my deep pie dish, but it took forever to bake and never quite set properly in the oven (I gave up after a full 85 minutes!). That being said, it was fine once it cooled! I should have baked it a little less, then, and I’ll use less sweet potato purée next time. I also didn’t have lactose-free cream, so I served it with Rice Whip and topped it with (non-candied) nuts. While I like the whipped topping, I’d omit the nuts entirely next time. The recipe itself is one I’m keeping!

Flourless Nut Butter Cookies, Two Ways

I decided to try a few recipes for various nut butter cookies that all happen to be flourless. So if you avoid cross-contaminants, they’re gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, paleo, what have you, but they’re just plain good! First up, the peanut butter cookie. I used a recipe from Real Simple. These aren’t the peanut butter cookies I remember from my childhood, because I’m pretty sure those had flour, but they are really good and it turns out you barely notice the lack of flour! I thought that they were great when they were warm and slightly crispy, but they went soft the next day (which is probably where flour would make a difference); I would recommend baking only one batch at a time and/or halving the recipe below, which makes roughly 3 dozen cookies. The Engineer also approved of these cookies. Note that you can roll them in sugar (see here) or add things to the dough such as chocolate chips (like here or here, both of which look really good), nuts, dried fruit or pieces of candy, though in all those cases I would not press them down with a fork. You could also use another type of nut butter, but for these, I think something with the consistency of hydrogenated peanut butter is best (I used Skippy Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, but an almond butter like Barney Butter would work well too, and perhaps nut-free butters with the same consistency).

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt

Heat oven to 350 °F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment (or only one, and bake one batch while leaving the rest of the prepared dough balls in the fridge). In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, sugars, eggs, baking soda, and salt until smooth.

Shape the dough into balls (about 1 heaping tablespoon each) and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using the tines of a fork, flatten each ball, creating a crisscross pattern.

Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until puffed and golden, 10 to 12 minutes (the cookies will deflate as they cool). Let cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.



The other recipe that inspired me is actually from a cardboard box I got when I ordered multivitamins from Vitacost (and you have to love a company that makes such good use of its packaging!). In the end, though, I made the recipe from Pastry Affair because it called for vanilla, even though it is otherwise quite similar. The quantity is also more reasonable, about half of the yield of the previous recipe. For this one, you can use a more natural nut butter: I used Justin’s Classic Almond Butter, but I think something even a little more viscous would work, as would other natural nut butters like cashew or hazelnut.


Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (250 g) creamy almond butter
2/3 cup (150 g) sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup (60 grams) miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the almond butter and sugar. Mix in the egg, baking soda, vanilla, and salt until evenly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop cookies by the tablespoon onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 5-10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. (The cookies will be very fragile and need to set up before they can be moved; I just let them cool on the silpat.)

Cake marbré

Voici une recette adaptée de Cuisine Campagne. Parce que bon, j’ai mis longtemps à trouver un moule à cake (que j’ai fini par dénicher chez Ikea), et j’allais bien m’en servir! J’aime les gâteaux marbrés, même si les miens ne sont jamais aussi beaux que ceux des pros… Ce gâteau-là, il était délicieux, en plus! Il me rappelait agréablement certains gâteaux du commerce que j’ai mangés, petite (comme les madeleines de Proust, quoi). La recette donne les quantités en grammes; c’est ce que j’ai utilisé pour la faire, parce que le petit volume de pâte laisse peu droit à l’erreur, mais je vous donne quand même quelques équivalents impériaux pour vous guider. N’oubliez pas de peser chaque bol que vous utilisez et de noter le résultat avant de tarer la balance! (Bon, on en salit beaucoup, des bols, six dans mon cas, mais c’est pour la bonne cause.) Si vous êtes chanceux, vous aurez même une tranche qui vous fait penser à un bonhomme sourire, comme sur la dernière photo… Vous en connaissez beaucoup, des recettes qui mentionnent Rorschach et Proust?

4 œufs, séparés
140 g de sucre blond de canne
140 g (10 c. à soupe) de beurre
70 g (2 ½ oz) de chocolat noir
70 g (2 ½ oz) de chocolat blanc
130 g de farine de blé
1 c. à thé de vanille
1 pincée de sel

Préchauffer le four à 350 °F. Chemiser un moule à cake de papier parchemin.

Fouetter les jaunes avec le sucre dans un bol jusqu'à ce que le mélange blanchisse.

Ajouter la farine et mélanger avec une fourchette (la pâte devient bien épaisse). Peser le tout, diviser le poids en deux et en mettre la moitié de côté dans un autre bol.

Faire fondre les chocolats au bain-marie dans deux casseroles séparées. Verser la vanille dans le chocolat blanc. Ajouter dans chacune d'elles 70 g de beurre et mélanger.

Incorporer les chocolats fondus dans chaque bol et mélanger.

Battre les blancs bien fermes avec une pincée de sel. Les peser, diviser leur poids en deux et les ajouter délicatement dans chaque pâte au chocolat.

Verser en alternant les couches de pâte au chocolat noir et au chocolat blanc (4 au total) en lissant bien la surface à chaque fois. Compter 4 bonnes cuillères à soupe par couche.

Enfourner pendant 50-55 minutes. Vérifier la cuisson avec la pointe d'un couteau. Laisser refroidir avant de démouler.