When life gives you lemons, make lemon squares

There's no beating around the bush; bad days are inevitable. What to do with an awful day? Methodical, precise, artistic, and meditative, baking calms me down and gives me purpose. So on bad days, distract yourself with some baking. And if stuff goes wrong, no one has to know but you, since you're alone in your kitchen. And there are no lasting repercussions. And if you need an excuse to cry, well, your crust isn't going to judge you. So when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or, if the season doesn't really lend itself well to lemonade, (five inches of snow on the ground doesn't really scream "lemonade!"), make lemon squares. And feel accomplished when you do:)

*Note: this recipe can easily be made gluten-free (as I did, this time around) by using brown rice flour. It causes the crust to be slightly more brittle, but still tastes delish.

Lemon (and Lime) Squares

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature (or if using salted, omit salt below)

1/4 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour (or brown rice flour, if making it gluten-free)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Citrus filling

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup of lemon and lime juice (I used a mixture, but you can opt to use just one)

2 tablespoons grated lemon and lime zest (grate the lemons and limes BEFORE cutting and squeezing them!)

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or brown rice flour)

garnish with confectioner's sugar

** NOTE: after making this recipe I would consider doubling the citrus filling - I'm one of those people who like a 2:1 ratio filling to crust. If you're fine with a 1:1 ratio, keep it as it is! If you're like me, double the filling and let it bake a little longer (I'm guessing about 10-15 minutes, or until the filling has just set.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan (if using a 9x13 inch pan, consider doubling the recipe). With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add flour, cinnamon, and salt and beat until dough just starts to come together, but still resembles large peas (you should be able to squish the dough in your hand and it should stick together. Press into bottom of prepared pan, pierce all over with a fork. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges, pushing down bubbles with a fork periodically, if they form. Remove from oven and cool slightly (on a rack, if you have one).

Butter and powdered sugar

Creamy butter and sugar; prepped flour, cinnamon and salt

Large peas, but still sticks together when squished

Pre-baked crust

Meanwhile, beat the sugar and eggs in electric mixer until smoother. Add lemon and lime juice, lemon and lime zest, cinnamon, vanilla, and stir to combine. Fold or beat flour. Pour filling into shortbread crust and bake for about 17-20 minutes, or until the filling has just set. Remove from oven and let cool (again, on a wire rack if you have one).

Eggs and sugar

Zested lemons and lime

In the oven!

(Almost) finished product

Serve by cutting into squares and dusting with powdered sugar.

* recipe modified from www.joyofbaking.com and Martha Stewart's "Cookies"

Slightly imperfect, but delicious nonetheless

Risotto-esque Barley with Mushrooms and Kale

I always forget how much I like risotto until I sneak a bite of it off someone else's plate in a restaurant. It's not something I'm ever inclined to make, it's not something my mother makes, and while it definitely is a comfort-y food, I rarely crave it. Something about risotto isn't quite nutty enough for my liking. And it can come dangerously close to tasting like baby food. While that doesn't bother me with something sweet like rice pudding, I'd like to still chew my meal (for the most part) while I still have teeth/before I need to get dentures, you? But still, I wondered... could the idea of risotto be co-opted and applied to another grain? Could a risotto-like dish be made with barley - a nuttier, crunchier, healthier substitute for rice? (it's low in fat, cholesterol-free, it contains tons of soluble and insoluble fibre, and it's a source vitamins and minerals like B3, B1, iron, magnesium and zinc, just to name a few. NOT gluten-free for any celiac's out there). I decided to venture and give it a go sans-recipe (apart from glancing at the proportions of barley-to-water). I think this one's a keeper! It makes a hearty, umami-filled vegetarian main, or a great side to fish, seafood, and chicken (maybe a bit heavy to pair with a red meat, but to each his own!). Many riffs can be made on it and I encourage you to explore! What would it taste like with a few baby tomatoes thrown into the pan at the last minute? What about some artichokes? or some chunks of good quality feta (not quite risotto-esque, but I'm sure delicious nonetheless!). Try it and let me know :) Happy cooking!

Risotto-esque Barley with Mushrooms and Kale

Ingredients

Olive oil

2 medium onions

1 cup pearled barley

lots of water (exact amounts specified in the directions)

1 bay leaf (optional)

about 2 cups of a variety of mushrooms, preferably at least half dried and reconstituted (so we can use the mushroom water later!)

Herbs e.g. thyme, sage, oregano (optional, but highly recommended)

2-3 cups of kale, swiss chard or spinach, central ribs removed, torn into smaller pieces

1 cup white wine

balsamic vinegar

salt

pepper

1/2-1 cup shaved parmesan (optional)

Directions

Make 1 cup of barley according to package directions (or according to MY directions!); saute a small-to-medium onion in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat until browned and softened, 5 minutes. Add 1 cup barley, 2 cups water and bay leaf, if using. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed - check periodically to ensure the barley doesn't burn! (Note: You would usually stop here if you were just making straight-up barley). At this point, boil a few of cups of water and pour about 2 cups of water over your dried mushrooms. Let sit at least 20 minutes, or longer.

Saute those onions!

Putting the barley to simmer for 25 minutes (it's kind of like putting a baby to bed)

Don't dried mushrooms have a lovely, musky smell? It's reminiscent of the decaying leaves in a fall forest - all in a little nugget of joy! (I'm getting a little flowery with the words here, eh?) 

Once the barley is ready, fluff it with a fork. It is okay if there's a touch of extra liquid, you're going to add even more! Add about 1/2 of the broth from the soaked mushrooms (but NOT the mushrooms themselves!). Keep the barley on a low heat and stir occasionally ensuring the bottom doesn't burn. Once the liquid is reduced by about half (on my stove it took approximately 7 minutes) add the remaining mushroom liquid. Repeat again with any extra mushroom liquid, and the last time with about 1 cup of white wine. (Got it? Mushroom liquid, mushroom liquid, more mushroom liquid or water or chicken stock, white wine. If you find by the second one it's pretty mushy, skip the third and just add the wine!)

Fluffing

While that's going on, grab a saucepan, cut the remaining onion in chunks (not TOO small!), and again, saute in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. I chopped up some sage and threw it in here (it would be a good idea to add sage, thyme or rosemary at this point, about 2-3 tablespoons). Then add mushrooms, stirring occasionally until wilted and cooked through, about 7-10 minutes. Add about 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar and let bubble until most is gone, then add 1 cup white wine, scraping up bits from the bottom of the pan, and let wine cook down.

Onions and sage 

Adding the mushrooms

Bubbling wine concoction

Add the kale, stir in and cover until wilted, about 5 minutes (feel free to add a touch more wine or balsamic if it looks very dry!). Stir into barley. Add a TON of salt and pepper (if you weren't adding as you were cooking) and about 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar if you want it a touch more moist. If adding parmesan, stir in thoroughly while warm. Enjoy!

Pre-wilted kale

Kale and barley 

Stirring it all together

The finished product!

This one's a keeper! Bouillabaisse and Tarte Tatin - did we teleport to France?

It's just about that time of the year...not quite, but almost. The point in time where you want to forego interaction with most humans, where your circadian rhythms and internal clock scream, "HIBERNATE!" full blast in preparation for the cold that's sure to follow, where you're dying to curl up at home on a weekend night but kind of fearful that too many weekends in a row of you and Modern Family might result in permanent damage to your social life... Cue: DINNER PARTY. It need not be a flamboyant undertaking (although it can be, if you wish), nor does it need to take up all day. Plus, cook with others and suddenly it's an event, an evening, an activity. Anais seems to be the one prompting me to cook recently, and it was at her suggestion that we got a small group together for this weekend's affair.

What to make, what to make? I wanted something easy, something one-pot (or close to it), something comforting yet impressive, and something that we could do together. What better a time than to bust out my mother's bouillabaisse (French fish and seafood soup/stew) recipe? Yellow, fraying and splattered with cooking juices, we keep the instructions in a plastic envelope for fear that one day this magical artifact will disintegrate into thin air (and looking at the picture below, it seems as though that day is not too far away). Torn from the New York Times in 1975, it's one of our oldest and most cherished recipes. I always make a few modifications which I'll share with you below.

Legendary soup and recipe.

And I know I didn't have to add anything to that, but I'm feeling pretty Europe-tantilized these days (one of my best friends just moved to Belgium and my parents are all giddy that they're visiting Paris for a dermatology conference in December), so what better than to go with the French theme and make a Tarte Tatin? Deceptively easy, ethereally delicious, and completely manageable, it's the perfect dessert to pair with this meal. And last but not least, some cheese! We didn't have a cheese course, instead I served it with chunky, grainy country bread at the same time as the soup in order to spread the gooey delicacies on the bread and dip it into the broth forming a melty, tomato-y mouthful of goodness. But I cannot emphasize enough the value of going to a real cheesemonger and talking to the guy (or girl). Explain what you like. Tell them what you don't. Be honest if you don't know much. They WILL help; that's what they're there for! I told my guy, "I like melty cheeses. I like it when my cheeses smell like four-day-old toe jam. BUT I'm having guests, and they might not like their milk products quite so funky." He put together the four most perfect cheeses - three from Quebec and one from Switzerland - wonderful complements to each other, different textures, colours, types of milk, scents, strengths...a lovely companion to the soup. 

CHEESE! Yes, I made little label-flags. You have full permission to make fun of me. 

Since I made the meal backwards (dessert first, the main later), I'll include it here backwards too.

Tarte Tatin

Sour Cream Pastry

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

6 tablespoons chilled sour cream

Apple Filling

3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into large chunks

1 cup of sugar (don't cut these amounts down any further! I already omitted 1/2 a cup of sugar and 1/4 stick of butter!)

approx 8 medium (about 3.5 lbs) Gala apples (or other apples good for baking)

a pinch of cinnamon (optional)

a pinch of ground ginger (optional)

1 egg, beaten to blend

Blend flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl/mixer with a whisk attachment. Add butter and beat at medium-slow speed until butter is the size of small peas, about 3 minutes. Add sour cream and beat until moist clumps form, about 1 minute. Gather dough into a ball, press together, and flatten into 6-inch-diameter disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours. You can make this a day ahead of time and let soften slightly before rolling out!). 

Preheat oven to 425 C. Spread butter over the bottom of a 12-inch-diameter ovenproof skillet (if the handle of your skillet is plastic you CANNOT put it in the oven!! You'll have to move the apples to a pie dish before baking). Sprinkle sugar over butter and place over medium-low heat, cooking until better melts, sugar begins to dissolve, and mixture starts to bubble, about 3 minutes.

Melting the butter and sugar...deadly. I have a feeling my guests are glad they're only seeing this now

Remove from heat. Arrange apples on their sides around the edge of the skillet, placing apples tightly together. Arrange as many apples as will fit, and sprinkle with a touch more sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon and ginger, if using. Put skillet over medium heat, boil, adding extra apples as there is room, until a thick peanut butter colour syrup forms, about 45 minutes. If wanted, you can flip apples using a fork or paring knife halfway through to ensure even cooking (that's what I did), adding a touch more cinnamon and ginger once flipped.

Add the apples in concentric circles

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...

Cook until liquid is thick and about the colour of peanut butter. The addition of some cinnamon and a sprinkle of ground dried ginger spices things up a touch.

Remove from heat once peanut butter colour forms. Roll out pastry on floured surface to 12-inch round; place over apples. Cut four 2-inch slits on the top of pastry. Press pastry down around apples at the edge of the skillet; brush pastry with some of the egg glaze.

Bake tart until pastry is deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer to work surface and cool one minute. Cut around the edge of skillet to loosen pastry Place a large platter over skillet. Using oven mitts to protect your hands, hold the skillet and platter together TIGHTLY and invert, allowing the tart to fall onto the platter. Lift off skillet, and rearrange any stray or wandering apples. Cool tart 30 minutes and serve with ice cream, creme fraiche, or sour cream. Voila!

Flip the dough over and tuck under the apples.

Bake until browned, and then remove from oven.

Carefully flip onto platter and rearrange any fallen/out-of-place/naughty apples. Enjoy!

Bouillabaisse

About 8 servings

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chunks of onion (I added 2 leeks and reduced the amount of onion by about as much)

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/2 tablespoon loosely packed saffron stems (if you're a student on a budget, you can omit these - they're expeez - but if not, I would encourage you not to skimp...saffron is subtle but makes all the difference)

1/4 cup of flour

2 cups fish stock, clam juice or water

2 cups peeled, red, ripe tomatoes, fresh or canned (I use canned)

2 cups (or even more) dry white wine

1 1/4 pounds fillet of non-oily, white-fleshed fish like sea bass, talapia, or any other that will hold well in a soup (ask your fish dude!)

1 pint or more scrubbed, well-cleaned mussels or littleneck clams (I used clams)

1 teaspoon chopped thyme (if you have)

about 10 shakes Tabasco

1 cup 15% cream

salt and pepper to taste

Parsley to taste

**Note** You can also toss in other seafood - here I used some shrimp and squid, but you can also toss in lobster, scallops, crab meat, etc.

Directions

Heat oil in a pot and add onion, leeks if using, garlic and saffron until fragrant and soft, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in flour using a wire whisk. 

Add fish stock, tomatoes and wine, stirring rapidly with the whisk. When blended, cook, stirring often, about 30 minutes.

Onions, leeks, garlic, oil, whisked together with flour to create a roux (this will thicken the stew once the liquid is added!)

Clam juice and wine.

Added tomates! (aka tomatoes)

Whiskwhiskwhisk.

Cut the fish into 1 1/2 inch cubes (better too big than too small, they will flake unto smaller pieces while cooking anyways), there should be about 3 cups. Add the fish and cook about 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer about 5 more minutes, until clams/mussels open and any other seafood is cooked through (sometimes I add a touch more wine here and let it cook down if it looks too thick for my liking).

NOTE! All this can be done before or as your guests arrive. Keep it on a low simmer. HOWEVER, if you're adding squid, only toss it in a minute or two before you plan on serving the soup, otherwise it will get rubbery!

Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with parsley, put on some jazz and let yourself be transported to Paris!

Adding some cream.

A little stir...

...and a little taste...can you guess what I probably said? "A little more salt and a few splashes of Tabasco."

Our table. Can a Saturday night get much better? (That's how I know I'm getting old. Hah.)