I can make cookies EVEN BETTER

What's better than cookies do you ask? Ice cream sandwiches!

And guess what else? Summer is just around the corner! Well, maybe not technically, but after the amazing weekend we had (including a whole day spent on the beach!!) I can feel it coming.

And while I may be 7 months late in saying this, I've decided on my new year's resolution. I'm going to take more (calculated) risks, try and relax a little more, and find more ways to enjoy Australia for the time that I'm here. Sounds easy while I'm typing it out... let's see how I go!

Calculated risk #1? Well I'm not sure I'm ready to share it online just yet... but let's just say I'll be doing a lot of experimenting with cookie and ice cream recipes!

This was my first ice cream sandwich. I made it a few weeks ago with actually no intention of turning it into a sandwich. I made these double chocolate cranberry cookies and a few days later as I was soaking in the sun on our balcony I remembered we had a tub of ice cream in the freezer! My new baby was born (figuratively speaking of course). I made these sandwiches B.C.: before churn :) so I just used a store bought chocolate ripple vanilla ice cream. But I just finished my first successful batch of homemade fresh strawberry ice cream and will be posting that soon!

The first thing I've learned about ice cream sandwiches is how important it is that both elements (cookie + ice cream) are the same degree of frozen! I made up a few quick sandwiches last night and put them in the freezer. But they were only in there for about 10 minutes. Being the perfect temperature to freeze the cookie crunchy but leave the ice cream too soft and squishy. Resulting in a delicious, yet messy snack. I'm still working on a cookie recipe that stays soft and chewy even when frozen. Any tips?

These may be my favourite double chocolate cookies. The edges are a little crispy, but for the most part these cookies are soft, dense, and chewy. And the dried cranberries add a burst of sweet/tart goodness in every bit.

For the sandwiches, I would recommend making and eating immediately. These cookies lose their dense chewy texture when frozen. So if you're in the mood for a quick and delicious treat, make a batch of these cookies, squish them together with one of your favourite ice creams, and enjoy!

Double Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter with both sugars. Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla.

In another bowl combine all the dry ingredients with the chocolate chips and cranberries.

Mix together the contents of both bowls until just combined. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

Once ready to bake, preheat your oven to 170F. Shape the cookies by tablespoonful and bake 8-10 minutes until the sides are just cooked and feel slightly crispy. It's best to err on the undercooked rather than overcooked side of things.

Ice cream sandwich anyone??

Be Mine, Cinnamon Bun

Finally! A beautiful, sunny day in Sydney :) After what felt like months of grey skies and rain (isn't this why I LEFT Vancouver??) I was finally able to put on my sun glasses and go for a walk.

Oh! And I haven't mentioned my big news! As of today, I am officially self-employed! Exciting day today. I am now 100% devoted to my new catering company Catering 4 You! Business cards and website are soon to come, but please contact me at christine.amanatidis@gmail.com if you are in the Sydney area looking for any type of catering. Private dinner parties, birthday parties, office functions, baked goods, I do it all! You can check out some pictures of my catering work on the tab labelled Catering 4 You in this blog right beside the home tab.

But enough advertising (for now), back to the blog. Everyday these past two weeks while I trudged through the wet streets of Sydney dodging puddles and trying to avoid buses+potholes, I day dreamed of the warm water and white sand beaches of the summer time. Lying in the sun, playing beach volleyball, snorkeling, my list of favourite summer time activities could go on forever... But you know what? I think sometimes we forget how much fun winter can be as well! It's easy to get bogged down by rain and lack of sun, but I've got a few tricks that help keep me going even through the REALLY rainy weeks. Want to know my #1 trick? Cooking something yummy, delicious, can't just eat one, won't regret even after eating 3. Can you guess what? Cinnamon buns!

Crispy tops, sticky icing, and the dough has an almost brioche-like quality... SO GOOD.

There's something magical in these wonderful crispy/soft/chewy/spicy/sweet little gems. It's just so hard to explain! The outsides are crispy, and the insides are soft, tender, fluffy, and chewy all at the same time. But once you roll these babies up with a delicious brown sugar cinnamon butter filling, your options haven't run out yet! Will you bake and then drizzle with cream cheese frosting? Or bake in the stickiest, most delicious concoction I've ever discovered?... thanks Aunt Gladi! Ah! You'll just have to make a few different batches of these and find out which combination is your favourite!

For this posting I topped mine with cream cheese frosting. I'm just not sure if I'm ready to give up my sticky cinnamon bun recipe yet! For now your only option will be to come visit and eat them here :)

Just one word of warning. I would err on the smaller/more rolls side rather than making 12 giant rolls. Each roll should be one serving. There's no point splitting one in half and sharing it, because the best part (the very very centre of the roll) is just too small to share and you'll most definitely end up fighting over it!

Cinnamon Buns

Dough: 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 egg
5+ cups flour
2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup softened butter

Filling: softened butter
brown sugar
cinnamon


In a large mixing bowl, combine the warm water and milk (should be ever so slightly above body temperature) with the oil, sugar, salt, and eggs.

Mix together the flour and yeast so that they are evenly combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until you get a soft and sticky dough. Now knead in the softened butter until the dough comes together. Add any extra flour necessary to get a soft and not sticky dough. Knead this dough for 5-10 minutes until smooth.

Put your dough ball in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size. 

It should look like this after it's rise

Now is the point where you can decide on the quality of your rolls. If you have time, repeat this step two more times, kneading the dough and developing a little more gluten each time. This results in a soft and chewy texture that I absolutely love. But if you don't have the time for the multiple rises and punch downs, you can skip straight to shaping your rolls after the first rise. This will still give you delicious cinnamon buns, but their final texture will be lighter and more fluffy.

After your dough has finished rising (either just the one time or three times) it is time to shape your buns (hehe). This was the stage I was always mesmerized with when I was a little kid watching the people at Saint Cinnamon's through the glass. Effortlessly rolling out the dough (this dough is super soft and easy to work with) then using their hands to smear butter and cinnamon sugar all over, no one can resist!

Roll out your dough to a rectangle. If you think you won't be able to handle this amount of dough in one rectangle, just make two instead! This will make it easier for you to divide between two pans anyways.

First spread the softened butter

Next add a generous amount of cinnamon brown sugar (about 1 tbsp cinnamon per cup of sugar)

Roll up carefully and cut!

Roll lengthways, so you get a long roll. And don't worry about making it too tight either. It's actually important that you roll the dough just tight enough, because if you roll it too tightly once it's baked the centres will pop up and give your rolls a funny shape. The same lightness of hand is required for slicing the rolls as well. Using a very sharp serrated knife, cut the rolls without pressing or squishing anything. You want nice circles, not frisbees okay?

Now take your nicely sliced rolls and place them in a baking dish lined with parchment paper to ensure each roll comes out perfectly.

It may not look like they fit, but just wait until their final rise....

Poof! Like magic, after 30 minutes in a warm place covered with a tea towel you get a pan bursting with cinnamon roll-y goodness :)

Now all that's left to do is bake in a 175C oven for 20-30 minutes until they are golden brown and your house smells like you're trying to sell it (did you know real estate agents use cinnamon scent to make a house seem more cozy and inviting?)

They look a bit naked... Cream cheese frosting anyone?!

To top these babies off, just mix an equal amount of softened butter with softened cream cheese. Add enough powdered sugar (it takes a lot of powdered sugar) to get the desired consistency, and finish off with a splash of vanilla extract. Easy peesy!

Use as much or as little frosting as you like. After I took this artsy fartsy photo I put about a cup more frosting ontop :)

And don't forget what I told you about the middle! So simple, so delicious, SO MANY more ways to make them! Apple, chocolate chip, pulled pork! Ah! This won't be my only cinnamon roll post :)

Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.

I love Friends. And when I say that I don't just mean my friends... (but don't worry I love you guys too) I mean Friends the show! I know you all do too, just admit it. Even after having watched all the seasons about 100 times all the way through, I can still come home and watch it any day, any time. It's the best. I'm actually watching the episode where Ross moves in with Chandler and Joey right now. I think this has to be my favourite. I can't stop laughing.

Another really good episode coincidentally always makes me hungry. The episode where Joey is a detective called Mac and his sidekick is a robot called C.H.E.E.S.E. Get it? Okay, enough about Friends and more about delicious food!

I make this whenever I'm really hungry, kind of cold, and looking to hold a big bowl of deliciousness in my arms. This is technically Butternut Squash Mac 'n' Cheese, but to be honest, now I only make mac 'n' cheese this way. I think the slight sweetness of the squash really nicely complements the sharp cheddar and the salty parmesan cheeses.

Mac 'n' Cheese

1/2 large butternut squash
1/2 lb short macaroni
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
salt and pepper
pinch nutmeg
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Extra grated cheese and parm
Handful of bread crumbs (optional)




 Peel and seed the squash and cut into large chunks. Steam it until it is soft and completely cooked through. I did it in a big pot with about an inch of water. But you could just microwave it in a bit of water, covered. Once the squash is cooked, drain away all the excess liquid and mash until smooth. Set aside.




Boil the pasta to al dente. Don't overcook it at this stage because it will go back into the oven and continue to cook later.

Look at that macaroni! You can use any shape you like, I just think the ribbed sides and big fat shape of denti rigati work perfectly!

 

 

 

 

If you want to add some extra vegetables (like the broccoli I used) that need to be blanched, add it to the pasta water to finish off cooking with the pasta. This way you can drain everything together :)

Next is time to make the cheese sauce! In a sauce pan melt the butter. Add the flour and, on low heat, cook the roux for 1 minute stirring constantly. Heat up the milk to just above body temperature (you can use the microwave to make things easier). Doing this ensures it mixes easily into the hot roux resulting in a smooth perfect sauce! Gradually add the milk to the roux whisking all the while until all the milk is in the pot and you have a smooth sauce.

Cook over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the sauce just comes to a boil and begins to thickens up. Turn the pot to low heat. Add all the cheese and stir until completely melted into the milk. Now is the time to season! Very important. Add salt and lots of black pepper. And the secret ingredient, nutmeg! I put nutmeg in every white sauce I make. It has this warming quality that gives the sauce a real savouriness that salt can't do on it's own.

Now is the time to put everything together. Mashed squash, cooked macaroni, cheese sauce. At this point, if you like extra creamy mac 'n' cheese, you can just eat it straight out of the pot. In out house we face a bit of a dilemma. Nick likes it straight from the pot. But I prefer it after it's been in the oven for a bit getting golden brown and chewy crunchy. What I do now, I think, is a good comprimise of both worlds.

Steamy, creamy, cheesy, delicious!

Pour the mixture into a casserole dish. Take some extra grated cheese and mix it with some parmesan cheese and a handful of breadcrumbs. Sprinkle this mixture over the mac 'n' cheese and put the dish under the broiler (grill) until the top is golden brown and crispy. This means you get the crispy golden melty top that I love, and the gooey, straight-from-the-pot mac 'n' cheese that Nick loves. Now this is what I call conflict resolution ;)

A lesson in turning mistakes into "meant-tos"

So when I set out to write this post I was intending on making granola bars. Something I can quickly grab and eat on the train on my way to work, something I could pack into Nick's lunch... blablabla. I did some research and compared heaps of recipes, melding a few together into what I thought would be the grand master granola bar recipe. Being who I am, I wanted to create a recipe with the most flavour and nutrients, the least amount of fat, and the most delicious. I'm a dreamer, I know.

I decided to omit any butter and oil from my recipe, and instead moisten the mixture with a combination of peanut butter and honey (which meant I didn't need to add any other refined sugar either!) It all sounds like a great idea, but in reality it just didn't work. Sure it tasted delicious, but what came out at the end of the process didn't look at all like the granola bars I had envisioned.

Beautiful right? Dense, chewy, beautiful.

Those aren't my granola bars... these are:

Before cooking. Neatly pressed into the pan... so far so good.

But try and cut them, and the whole thing shatters.

And when I say shatters, I mean literally crumbles and falls apart. But not to worry because guess what? When life gives you crumbly granola bars, you call it granola!

Granola

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups mixed nuts and fruit
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups crushed Nutri-Grain cereal
1/2 cup honey
4 tbsp peanut butter






In a big mixing bowl combine all ingredients except the honey and peanut butter.

In a small saucepan on low heat melt the honey down to a really runny consistency. Add the peanut butter and stir through. Cook until evenly blended and runny.

Pour the hot honey and peanut butter over the granola mix and stir until everything is coated. I used my hands to make sure everything was mixed together really well.

Spread the granola onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

YUM. Delicious morsels just waiting to be baked!

Bake at 150 C for 30-45 minutes or until everything smells nutty and delicious, and the granola is lightly golden brown.

The granola will still be a little soft at this stage, but it will crunch up as it cools to room temperature. Store the granola is an air-tight container for up to two weeks and enjoy a delicious home-made cereal every morning for breakfast :) ... and sometimes for dinner.

 I ate my granola after work with some sliced plums and bananas, delicious. But you can add strawberries, blueberries, or anything else you'd like.

YUM! The toasted sesame seeds are my favourite! They remind me of those sesame crispy sweet rectangle things you get at the grocery store for 50 cents. Dig in :D

OR! make this into a dessert... some Greek yogurt, some fruit compote (or just some warmed up jam) and...

Garlic bread and caramelized onions make everything better

It's true isn't it? I know you all agree. Garlic bread is just way better than regular bread. And you know what else? Caramelized onions make pretty much everything better too.

Have a loaf of bread? Sure you could wrap it in foil and heat it in the oven, but wouldn't everyone prefer it if you slathered it in butter and garlic?... and dare I say cheese?! And what if you were to put said garlic bread ON TOP of your favourite beef stew and crunch up the top in the oven? And what if you were to spoon golden caramelized onions between the bread slices?!?! Heaven.

This recipe takes any beef stew and makes it superman good. It's been kinda cold and not very sunny lately and after spending a week being sick, this was exactly what I needed to fill up on. You can use the beef stew recipe I wrote below, or just substitute your own beef stew recipe! The moral of this story is just that you should find a place for garlic bread and caramelized onions in every meal.

Crunchy Garlic Bread Beef Stew

FOR THE STEW:
6 strips bacon
2 lb beef chuck
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oil
1 cup dry red wine
1 onion
1 carrot
2 celery stalks
1 leek
2 cloves garlic
1 lb mixed mushrooms
12 oz amber beer
8 cups beef stock
2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
2 sprigs thyme
1 tsp allspice
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp tomato paste

Crisp up the bacon in a big pot over medium heat. Take out all the bacon pieces and hold for later but keep all the fat in the pan. Now cut your beef into 1 inch cubes and dredge in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Brown your beef in batches in the bacon fat on high heat. Put your browned beef with your bacon aside.

Now add the oil, onion, carrot, celery, leek, and garlic. Sweat these on medium heat until translucent. Add the mushrooms and saute until they have shrunk and most of the moisture has evaporated. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer and simmer 1 hour, covered.

If the beef is tender, your stew is done. If it doesn't fall apart then cook it for an additional 15 - 30 minutes.

Now time for the REALLY good part...

5 large onions
2 tbsp butter
worchestershire sauce
1 loaf Turkish bread (or anyother bread you want that has a soft crust)
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper
grated cheese

Slice the onions thinly and put in a covered pot with the butter and some salt and pepper. On low heat cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are a deep brown colour. Add the worchestershire sauce. Done.

Cut the bread on an angle. Pulverize the garlic with the parsley salt and pepper and mix with the olive oil.

Now time to assemble!

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C.

In a big dish, spoon in all your stew. Layer the bread slices over the top, overlapping. Pour/drizzle the garlic oil over all the bread. Between the bread slices spoon in all of the caramelized onions, here and there.

Now, the piece de resistance... grated cheese! Sharp cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere... whatever you like!

Put this beast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until it is bubbling, the bread is crunchy, and the cheese is melted/browned. Let it rest 5 minutes before digging in!

 

Oh my god. SO GOOD. Feeling creative? How about making a delicious chilli and topping it with homemade cornbread?! OMG THE POSSIBILITIES!!

High Apple Pie, in the sky hopes!

Did you get that song reference in my title? Frank Sinatra? Well at least I know you got it,
Marianna :)

Last Sunday morning came after a weekend beginning with a crazy night out with my family, a hung over Saturday, and then an accidentally early night. So Sunday morning I had a strange amount of energy and, lucky for me, an inordinate amount of apples!

Whenever I go to the grocery store I normally stick pretty closely to my list. But with Nick, it's as if no list exists. He disappears for 5 minutes and shows back up with an armful of things that either looked good, or reminded him of New Zealand, or were his favourite colour... So I've started reaching outside of my comfort zone and list following (exciting right?) and picking up things that I think might be of good use sometime. And thanks to this new habit, I already had all the ingredients I needed to make these pies! I had a lot of energy, but there was no way I was going to change out of my pjs to go to the grocery store. The great thing about food blogging is that you only have to take pictures of the food, no selfies! I can wear anything I want! Who knows what I'm wearing?! I could be naked! (Sorry Dad, just trying to boost my ratings)

So anyways, here's my recipe for apple pie. I made 4 pies using a "texas-size" muffin pan because that's all I have, but if you have a pie pan you can use that. This is a three step recipe. And depending on how much time and energy you have to put into making these you can make this as homemade or semi-homemade as you want :) You can buy the pastry, but I wouldn't suggest buying filling. Because then what would be the point right? But don't be nervous making your own pastry. This recipe is practically fool proof, it hasn't failed me yet!

Homemade Apple Pie

Crust:
1 1/2 cup pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp butter
5 - 6 tbsp ice water
1 egg yolk
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 egg + 1 egg white
raw sugar

Filling:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 apples, peeled
5 heaping tbsp brown sugar
1 heaping tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
                                                                                                                       3 tbsp flour

Making your own pastry isn't difficult, as long as you follow one simple rule. KEEP EVERYTHING COLD ALL THE TIME. When things are cold, they don't blend very nicely. And that's exactly what you want to happen, because the pieces of butter that aren't smoothly blended in will create pockets in the dough once you put it in the oven (from their water content evaporating) and give you all those lovely flaky layers!

So, on with the recipe. I took lots of pictures this time because I feel like it's easier to show this in pictures than with words.

Ice Cold Butter. I chopped the butter into small cubes and put it in the freezer while I assembled all the other ingredients.

 In a mixing bowl, combine your butter with the flour and salt. Use a fork, two knives, or your finger tips. Work quickly so that the butter doesn't melt.

This is what you want your flour, salt, and butter mixture to look like. See the size of the chunks of butter? Mostly pea sized, some a little bit bigger.

Next add in the egg yolk and ice water. I put a glassful into the freezer at the same time as the butter and let it get ice cold. Then just measure out as many tablespoons as you need to make a dough. Add the water in a tablespoon at a time. Sometimes you'll only need 4, this time I needed 6. It all depends on the moisture in the air.

This is what your finished dough should look like. See the spots of yellow? That's the unincorporated chunks of butter!

 Once your dough is made, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to chill out for at least an hour.

Next up the caramel. This is an extra step you don't have to do if you don't want. I just like the way it fills in the holes of the lattice top with golden brown caramel. I mean, you're taking all this time to make your own pastry, you'd might as well make some caramel too.

Put the sweetened condensed milk into a shallow pan (to make things go faster) and cook on medium heat until it is light golden brown.

This is after 5 minutes. It'll bubble pretty hard until...

It thickens and turns brown. This is when you turn off the heat!

 Cook the caramel to this stage, take it off the heat and let it cool until you can handle it with your hands. 

In the mean time...

One apple per pie means these are good for you!

Chop up the apples into a small dice. If you are making one big pie, I would suggest cutting the apple into thin slices, rather than a dice. The dice is nice (hehe) for small pies because that means you can fit more apple into the small shells. But I definitely prefer the texture you get from thinly sliced apples in a whole pie.

Mix the apples with the sugar, spices, salt, and flour.

Now time to take the pastry dough you made earlier out of the fridge. Roll it out to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick (just thick enough to hold everything together). And cut it out into four large circles big enough to act as the bottoms of your pie shell. If you are making one pie, just lay the whole piece over your pie plate and trim around the edges. KEEP THE TRIM!

Next fill your pie shells with the filling. Heap it up! The apple will cook down during cooking.

This is the optional stage. If you made that caramel with the sweetened condensed milk, take it by the heaping tablespoonful and make 4 flat discs. Lay each disc over your filling. This layer does two things. First it gives you a somewhat gooeyer caramely filling when the pies are cooked and still warm, and second it fills in the gaps of your lattice top. Without this caramel you will have an equally delicious pie, but when the apples cook down you will see them through the wholes in the lattice top.

Solution? If you aren't making the caramel then may I suggest making a double recipe of the crust, omitting the puff pastry lattice top, and making a whole top instead.

Now is the time to take your puff pastry sheet. Feel free to make a double batch of homemade pastry dough to make the lattice top, I just made mine with puff pastry because I like the texture and flavour of it as a pie top when doing the lattice pattern.

For it all you have to do is cut 2cm strips and lay them diagonally cross-hatched. I then used the excess trim that I saved from the bottoms to wrap around the lattice giving the pies a neat finish. All that you have to do now is egg wash those babies, sprinkle them with coarse sugar, and bake!

180 degrees celcius and about an hour later...

Voila! See that deep golden brown gooeyness? That's from the caramel discs.

It almost looks as if the filling is bursting out from between the lattice!

These flakes have earned an EXTRA LARGE close-up picture

Just look at that flaky pastry! Can you believe how easy it is to do this from scratch??

I bet you didn't think I could find another angle to photograph these delicious pies from!

Perfect. Simple. Delicious. Apple pies. They make your house smell so nice. And then make your tummy happy too.