Here’s a delicious cake that has no milk in it! A sweet, dense cake that is perfect with a cup of coffee. Served often drizzled in vanilla sauce.

If you’ve read this far, you probably want to try this. This recipe comes from Claire’s great aunt! Let’s see how it’s done.

You’ll need:

• 250g all-purpose flour*
• 150g icing sugar*
• 3 eggs
• 3-4 medium size apples
• 150g butter* (+ a few little pieces for brushing on top)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tsp golden granulated or demarra-style sugar

*(you may notice our Swedish recipes are measured in weight instead of volume often … just how they do it)

First you want to cut up the apples

Cut them into bite-sized cubes and put these aside for later.

Next we add the eggs to a mixing bowl

Add icing sugar

Mix this until whole mixture has turned white

Like this!

Add the flour, baking powder and a touch of the cinnamon to a sifter. Sift into a medium sized bowl

This should make sure the ingredients are well mixed

Add the flour to the large mixing bowl

By hand, fold in the flour

Melt the 150g of butter in 240 ml of hot water

While mixing, add the melted butter.

Grease a cast iron frying pan (or something similar).

Pour the batter into the pan

Should fill it about half way

Drop the apples on top.

You want it nice and full!

Brush the top with some melted butter

Sprinkle on the cinnamon

and the granulated golden sugar!

Ready to bake!

Bake in 350F oven for 40-50 minutes, until a knife stuck into the centre pulls out clean

Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes

Run a knife around the edge

Flip the cake out onto a plate. Cover with a second plate, flip over. You should now have the cake sitting on a plate! Like a really lame magic trick!

Cut the cake into wedges

Place onto plates

Time to add the vanilla sauce (if you want). This obviously can be made from scratch, but it also can easily be bought at your local IKEA … hey, we were there getting a shelf anyway!

Drizzle the vanilla sauce on top. Serve with a nice hot cup of coffee.

So there you have it, Swedish Apple Cake or Äppelkaka

Bon Apetit!

Thrown in to the general European mix of our families is Claire’s Armenian grandmother. She introduced Claire to an entirely different type of cooking, and through Claire I was then introduced to these foods!

Today we’re going to make her grandmother’s “go to” Armenian dish, Dolmas! These are peppers and cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice … so basically deliciousness in handy packages.

Ready to do this?

You’ll need the following:

• 1lb ground beef (or lamb) – we’re actually using a mix of both here
• 4 large red peppers
• 1 green cabbage
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 1 cup long grain rice
• 1 large can of tomato juice
• 1 clove of garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp Arabic spice (white pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger & corriander) – we got this from Adonis market here in Montreal

Start by chopping the parsley. Watch your fingers and don’t look in the camera!

Okay, that’s better

Once you are done, get a large mixing bowl

Add the parsley to the mixing bowl

Add the meat

Add the rice, onions, garlic, cumin and spices

Mix all these ingredients well

Should now look like this

Place your cabbage in a large pot of water and let it boil … we’ll come back to it later

Grab your peppers and cut off any long stems

Which one has the ball? Guess for a dollar, win it all!

You need to cut the caps off the peppers now

Using a small paring knife, cut on a 45 degree angle (so cap can be replaced and not fall in) all the way around the pepper

Gently pull up to remove the cap

Cut away any excess on the bottom of the cap and clean out the inside of the pepper

Replace the cap and move on to the next pepper. Continue until they are all done

Grab some of the mixture and loosely fill the pepper. The rice in the mix will expand and if you have not left enough room, the pepper will rupture during cooking

Repeat this process until all the peppers have been filled

Now place your peppers in a pot just deep enough to make sure they are covered. (This pot is actually from Claire’s grandmother … we’ll give some more stories about it later!)

Time to make some cabbage rolls!

Go get that cabbage from the boiling water

Cut carefully at the base of cabbage where the leaves attach so they can be removed from the core. Look at me! A face for radio!

If the cabbage has boiled long enough the leaves should pull off with ease. Once they are no longer coming off easily return the cabbage to boiling water for a few minutes, then repeat the process. You’ll want to do this until you have about 10-12 leaves (or until the leaves have become very small)

Take a large, intact leaf.

You’ll want to cut off the bottom about an inch up from where it attached to the core. Cut a straight line and be careful not to puncture the leaf anywhere else. You want these intact for rolling.

Place mix near the bottom of the leaf. Leave a bit of room so you can fold the bottom over. Press the mixture into a log type shape and fold the bottom over. Fold in the sides of the leaf. Like the pepper, make sure not to pack the rolls too much, as the mix is going to expand and it may break the roll while cooking.

This should have created a little pocket with the mix inside. Now roll forward.

Make sure when it’s done to place the roll with the seam down so it doesn’t unravel

Continue doing this until you have used all the mix.

Take the remaining pieces you cut away to line the bottom of the pan. There should be some whole leaves still left over when you’re done

Add your cabbage rolls. Make sure to have the seam on the bottom or it will unravel while cooking

Place them rather tightly so they help each other say intact. Make a few layers if needed.

Put in all the rolls except for the smallest one. This is going to be our ‘tester’!

Pour the can of juice evenly over the entire pot. Make sure to pour some inside each pepper so it wont get dry as it cooks. Add some lemon juice (you can also add some fresh mint at this point)

Add water until the liquid is almost level with the bottoms of the pepper caps

About this full

Now slice any remaining cabbage leaves down the ‘spine’

Take the leaves and cover the entire pot

Place that ‘tester’ roll in the middle and cover it with a couple remaining leaves. Place the pot on the stove top.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. This is going to cook for about 45 minutes.

This little dent in our lid is actually there on purpose. Claire’s grandfather did this to let the steam escape! This pot was actually one of the only pots they owned when they moved to Canada and were sent to work in Northern Ontario. They used it not only as a pot, but as a refrigerator by leaving it filled and placing it outside in the snow!

Okay, it’s been 45 minutes … is it ready?

This is why we made a ‘tester’ roll!

Peel back the top leaves to expose the ‘tester’

Remove the ‘tester’ and place it on a plate …

It’s ready!

Now for garnish, we create what Claire and I lovingly call fancy sauce … it’s just sour cream with ketchup mixed in!

Put a pepper and couple of cabbage rolls on a plate. Don’t forget the fancy sauce!

So there you have our Stuffed Peppers and Cabbage Rolls (Dolmas)

Bon Apetit!

A recipe that combines sweet, salty, sour and spicy, Pad Thai is a delicious Thai noodle dish that you will want daily!

Today we’re gonna make Chicken Pad Thai, but you can substitute shrimp or beef or tofu … so make it how you want! Same goes for how spicy you like it. Always feel free to add more or less chili sauce so it’s the way you want it to be.

Okay, let’s see how this is done!

For this dish, you’ll need:

• 1 lb chicken breast, boneless & skinless
• 1 cup chopped green onion
• 1 pkg (454 ml) dry rice noodles
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp chili sauce
• 75 ml fish sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 limes (or equivalent amount of juice)
• 1 cup crushed peanuts (approx.)

First step is to soak the rice noodles in warm water. We don’t cook them for this! Make sure your bowl is big enough … this one wasn’t

Okay, this one will work!

Pour water to cover and let them soak for about half an hour, until they are soft

Disaster averted, let’s make our sauce!

Pour sugar in a medium size mixing bowl

Add your chili sauce (you can find this in the grocery where Asian foods are)

Add the fish sauce (also at the grocery, right near the chili sauce usually). Do you smell that pungent fish sauce? I’m sure you recognize that smell from going to Thai restaurants!

Add 125 ml of water to this mixture

Squeeze in that fresh lime

Two limes should be enough!

Now stir it all together and put aside

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Do you still have all your fingertips? If you answered yes, move on to the next step!

Add vegetable oil to a wok (or large skillet) and put the heat at medium-high

Add garlic and chicken to the heated oil

Stir fry until chicken is no longer pink

Add the sauce and let it boil for a few minutes

Get an egg and lightly beat in a small dish

Add the egg

Stir until sauce starts to thicken

Add onion and cilantro

Mix well

Now, go get drain those noodles and bring them over!

Add the noodles to the wok

and mix it all together

This looks pretty good!

just a little bit more …

Place into bowls and top with some fresh cilantro sprigs and chopped peanuts

Add as much as you like!

There you have it, sweet and spicy Chicken Pad Thai ready to eat!

Bon Apetit!

Moving to Montreal has given us exposure to an entirely new culture and new traditions. One classic Québec dish is Tarte au sucre or Sugar Pie. 

With a crunchy top and sweet, creamy middle, French Canadian Sugar Pie (Tarte au sucre) is a dessert that you’ll quickly want to add to any meal when guests are over. Heck, you’ll just want it anytime you can get it!

I’m pretty sure by this point, you want to try this …

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 cups brown sugar (packed)
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp butter (approximately)

You will also need a pie crust to put this in. I just opt for a store bought, frozen pie crust (get the deep dish), but if you are adventurous and have time, you can always make your own from scratch!

Add the flour to the sugar

Mix until fully blended

Like so! Try to break up as many little clumps of sugar as you can.

Put this aside for later

Add the eggs to a mixing bowl

Pour in the can of evaporated milk

Isn’t this easy so far?

Add the vanilla and whisk until all is fully blended

Add a little of the dry mix and whisk it in.  Doing it a little at a time makes it easier to blend.

Mix until smooth

Should look pretty much like this.

At this point, you’re probably thinking you forgot to add the butter … you haven’t, it’s used later!

Pour this mixture into a deep dish pie crust

Should pretty much fill it perfectly

Now, remember that butter I said we’d use?

Take the butter and cut it into small cubes

You want to take the pieces of butter and place them evenly all over the top of the pie

The butter, when it melts and mixes with the sugar, will bake into a crunchy top, almost like a crème brûlée.

Place in a 350F oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until the edges are firm but the centre still has a jelly like wiggle.

Wow, this smells so good!

You can also pour the mixture into small tart shells if you are taking a dessert to a party or want to make points with your co-workers! The small tarts will cook faster, so expect them to be ready in closer to 20 minutes.

Let this cool and place in the refrigerator (or more traditionally here, outside in the snow!)

There you have it, lovely Tarte au sucre or Sugar Pie

Bon Apetit!

It’s been a few days since we put something up for you. Since you’ve been so wonderful and patient, we’re going to reward you with two recipes today!

This is a dish that my wife nicknamed “chicken grenades”. They’re chicken thighs stuffed with Italian sausage and they’re delicious!

I’ll also be showing you an easy method for making a lovely wild mushroom risotto

So, get the chicken prepared and cooking and then you can do the risotto while it cooks!

Italian Sausage Stuffed Chicken

Here’s all you’ll need:

• 6 chicken thighs (skin on)
• 3 Italian sausage (hot or mild, your choice!)
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp seasoned salt

First thing we need to do is remove the bone from the chicken. I like using a small paring knife for this just because I find  it’s much better to handle the delicate job.

No special trick here, just cut along the bone and separate it from the chicken without cutting through the chicken … or your fingers

Six boneless chicken thighs, five fingers … yea, I’m good

Take a sausage and slice open the casing

Now remove from the casing

Cut the sausage into a piece about the size of the chicken thigh. Place on a piece of chicken, skin side down, and then roll the chicken around the sausage

Repeat until all the thighs are stuffed

For the coating, pour breadcrumbs into a bowl.  Next, add the seasoned salt and mix it all together

Take a stuffed chicken thigh and roll it in the breadcrumb mixture. Place it in an oven safe pan. I like to use a loaf pan because I can pack the chicken in tightly enough that it won’t unravel while cooking!

Repeat until they’re all done

Place them in a 400F oven for approximately 40 minutes. When packed together like this, the chicken in the centre takes a bit longer to cook.

While this is cooking, let’s make that risotto!

Wild Mushroom Risotto

For this, you’ll need:

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1L (approximately) of chicken stock
• 1 cup of wild mushroom (I am using dehydrated mushrooms)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

If using dehydrated mushrooms, you’ll need to re-hydrate them for 30 mintues, so this should be done before ANYTHING else is started

Add warm water to the mushrooms. I’m using dehydrated mushrooms as I didn’t have a good source for fresh wild mushrooms at this time of year. Dehydrated will also give you a wonderful mushroom broth to add (as you’ll see)

Let this stand for 30 minutes

Add the rice to a hot skillet. Only the rice, no oil … we’re gonna toast the grains a bit

Stir over a medium heat

Keep going for 4-5 minutes, or until the rice is starting to get a bit golden

Add about half a cup of the chicken stock. We’ll be adding it slowly and mixing it in.

Stir through that steam!

Now add the mushrooms and stir. Pour in that wonderful mushroom broth too!

You want to continue a process of stirring and adding broth every time the broth you have added is absorbed.

Your risotto should start to get a creamy texture. You want to keep going until the rice is cooked but not quite fully soft. (It’s okay to have a spoon to keep tasting!)

Just as it’s almost ready, add the cheese

Mix this in and remove it from the heat … it’s done!

Okay, better go check on that chicken

Perfect!

Take a piece of chicken and place it on a cutting board. Slice into bite-sized rounds

Yea, this is SO good …

Place it on a plate with some of the risotto and a nice green salad

Looks fancy!

So there you have it, Italian Sausage Stuffed Chicken with Wild Mushroom Risotto

Bon Apetit!

This recipe was the special dish that Claire’s grandmother Marianne would make when it was a big occasion. Made with lobster, shrimp and haddock, it really is a treat!

Here you can see the actual recipe cards handed down from Marianne to Claire, probably written down  sometime in the 1940s.

She called this “Deviled” Seafood. Not many recipes have names like this anymore. Deviled actually was used to describe any recipe that had spice or was intense flavours.

Now, you may have noticed lately that the recipes I’ve been showing you have had pretty simple ingredients. If you’ve been unhappy with this, wanting something that is a bit more of a challenge … well, here you go!

Here is the BIG list of what you’ll need to make this dish:

• 2 lb of haddock or cod fillets
• 1 lb of cooked shrimp (small ones)
• 1 lb of lobster meat
• 8 tbsp butter
• 4-5 tbsp flour
• 1 can evaporated milk or light cream (15%)
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 4 tbsp chopped parsley
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp horseradish
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
• breadcrumbs

Think of it like a scavenger hunt!

Let’s get started …

Grease the inside of a double boiler (I used butter)

Cut the haddock into smaller pieces to fit inside double boiler. This will allow them to cook faster.

Place haddock in double boiler and get it cooking.

After about 20 min the fish should be cooked. Set it aside.

Melt the butter in a large pot on medium-low heat

Now, we’re going to make a béchamel sauce like we did for our Hearty Bacon MacN’ Cheese

Slowly add some flour to the butter and stir. Repeat this until all your flour has been mixed in.

Combine the cream and milk and warm it. Slowly pour into the pot.

Stir and add some more milk/cream. Keep going until you have added all the milk and cream and have a nice, smooth sauce.

Should look like this

Next, add the worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, horseradish, garlic, mustard and salt.

Add ketchup

Okay, mix it all together!

Add the chopped parsley

MIX!

Now, some special flavour …

Add that sherry!

Stir all this until well mixed

Go grab that pot of haddock

Use a fork to break the haddock into bite-sized pieces

Add the haddock to the pot

Mix it in

Add the shrimp and mix it well

And finally add the lobster meat!

Mix this whole thing together

Time to go grab a large casserole dish

Grease the dish, bottom and sides, with butter

Pour that mixture into the dish!

Looks like this, right?

Almost ready to put in the oven, just one more thing …

Sprinkle bread crumbs over the entire dish. At this point you can also dot the top with butter if you’re feeling really decadent.

Okay ready for the oven

Place in 400F oven for approximately 25 minutes, or until top is starting to brown

Like this!

Let the casserole sit while you prepare some rice to serve it on.

The casserole will be more like a stew in it’s consistency, not too thick.

Spoon it over rice and serve. Damn, you’re gonna like it!

So there you have it, the super special treat of “Marianne’s” Seafood Casserole.

From our family to yours!

Bon Apetit!

Now, when you think of a pancake, you probably are thinking of a heavy, flat thing you stack up to use as a delivery system for maple syrup … this is a good thing, don’t get me wrong!

The Swedish ugnspannkaka (literally ‘oven pancake’) is a fluffy, savoury meal. It reminds me of a Yorkshire pudding … but with bacon!

Let me show you how it’s made.

You’ll need:

• 250 ml all-purpose flour
• 600 ml of whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 3-4 slices of bacon, chopped

This all goes into an oven proof dish. A cast iron skillet is ideal!

Use butter to grease the pan well

Add bacon to the pan. (Set aside a few pieces for later … you’ll see why!)

Make sure it’s evenly distributed across the entire pan.

Set the pan aside (don’t cook that bacon!)

In a separate bowl, add the flour

Pour in the milk

And add the eggs.

I think you can tell, this is a very simple recipe. This was something that could easily be done during the long winter, on your farm.

Okay, back to the recipe!

Once the eggs are added, whisk the entire mixture until smooth

Should look like this

Go get that pan of bacon! (no, it’s not cooked, you did not miss a step … it will cook in the oven!)

Pour the mixture over the bacon in the pan

You can see some of the bacon has floated up to the top

Now, get that little bit of bacon I told you to leave aside!

Let your inner artist out and decorate the top of this pancake with the bacon

Place this in a 425F oven for approximately 25 minutes, or until golden brown

This is how it should look when it’s ready

Grab a knife and some plates … it’s time to eat!

You can serve it like this, but traditionally add a dollop of lingonberry or (as we do here) cloudberry jam

The sweetness of the jam combined with the salty smokey bacon turns this simple recipe into a complex tasting dish you’ll love!

This basic recipe is easy to play around with. You can make an amazing dessert version by using slices of apple instead of bacon and sprinkling the entire thing with cinnamon sugar once you’re done!

So, there you have it, Swedish Oven Pancake with Bacon … Ugnspannkaka

Bon Apetit!

As you can probably figure out by now, we like to entertain guests here in our place in Montreal. These biscuits are perfect when people are dropping by. Served with a glass of wine, you can have your cheese and crackers all in one tasty bite!

I’m going to show you how to make two different varieties here. Either one is melt in your mouth cheesy awesomeness!

Parmesan Shortbread

You’ll need the following:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan
• 2 sticks (1 cup) chilled, unsalted butter
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp coarse salt

Pour the flour into a food processor (you can do this by hand, but it is gonna be some work!)

Add the rest of the dry ingredients, leaving the butter aside

Blend until mixed

Cut that butter into cubes. You can use special internet skills like me to apparently cut the butter without lifting the knife!

Add the butter and use the pulse button to mix. You want to only blend this until you have the butter incorporated, but still a bit lumpy

Knead the dough until it all is one piece

Roll the dough into a ball and cut it in half

Form the halves into a log shape

Cut the log into slices about and inch wide

Roll each slice into a ball and place on a baking sheet

Flatten each ball with a spoon

Okay, looking good!

Place the sheet in 350F oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until the edges start to get golden

Take sheet out of oven and allow to cool

Now, why stop here when we can make more, different biscuits?

Cheddar Shortbread

For this, you’ll need:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups shredded cheddar
• 1 lb of softened salted butter
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Add the flour to a mixing bowl

Pour in the cheddar

Add the butter, garlic and cayenne

Mix until all the butter has been incorporated

Dump out bowl onto a flat surface and knead the dough until you have one solid piece

Place the dough in a greased pan. This is about 12×17. (If you’re like me, it seems you can also teleport away once it’s in the pan)

Press the dough to fill all edges of the pan

Once evenly distributed in the pan, go grab a paring knife …

Score a line about 1 inch from the edge

Keep repeating moving over about 1 inch at a time, creating columns

Do the same adding horizontal rows

Now grab a fork and make a diagonal criss-cross pattern along the squares

These will act as perforations making it easy to split the biscuit and share … if you ever find you’re able to not eat a whole biscuit!

Place in 375F oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden

Remove from the oven, and while it’s still cooling take the knife and run over those lines again … it will make life easier when it comes time to serve it!

So, there you have it, Savoury Parmesan and Cheddar Shortbread. Serve it with a nice glass of wine next time you have guests over and you may be seeing visitors more often!

Bon Apetit!

Today in Montreal we woke up to temperatures of -29C! No better time to make this warm comfort food … it’s like getting a hug with every bite!

Time for some Hearty Bacon Mac’N Cheese!

You’ll need for this one:

• 500g shredded cheddar
• 500g macaroni
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 100g of bacon or lardons
• 1/4 cup of unsalted butter
• approximately 1/4 cup of flour
• 3/4 cup of cooking cream
• 1 cup of whole milk

We start with the mother of sauces, the Béchamel (or white sauce)

Melt the butter in a medium size sauce pan

Add flour slowly and stir

Stop when you have a nice, thick paste

Slowly add the milk and cream, stirring the whole time

Continue the process until you have a nice, thick sauce. The paste will absorb more milk that you expect!

Start adding cheese to the sauce

Stir until melted. You want to keep doing this until you have used almost all the cheese. (You want a bit left over to sprinkle on the dish before baking!)

Put the sauce aside for a moment with a lid to keep it warm

Get your macaroni on to boil

Place a little butter in a warm skillet

Add some onions and saute for a couple of minutes

Add the bacon or lardons

Saute both together with a little pepper (to taste)

After a few minutes, add this to your cheese sauce … yea, it DOES look good!

Mix well over a low heat

Macaroni should be ready! Drain the pasta and put it back in the pot

Add the cheese sauce to the pasta …

and mix it together well!

Empty the pot into a large pan for baking!

Spread evenly

Now some final toppings!

Add some breadcrumbs (it’s optional, but I like it)

Remember that cheese I told you to put aside? Sprinkle it on top!

Now it’s ready for the oven

Place in oven preheated to 350F (you do not HAVE to be wearing a Doctor Who shirt, but I find it helps!)

After about 40 minutes you should have a nice golden crust!

Serve it along with some nice greens (come on, we DO need some vegetables too after all)

You can make it with lots of other ingredients, just add whatever you want to that cheese sauce!

We’ve done broccoli, mushrooms, peas … the list is endless!

So, there you have it, my Hearty Bacon Mac’N Cheese!

Bon Apetit!