Blueberry Peach Buckle

I can't believe I've never shared this recipe. It is so simple and delicious! You can have it for breakfast, a snack, or dessert.  It keeps well and freezes wonderfully. You can use fresh or frozen fruit and the rest of the ingredients are pantry staples. 

A buckle is essentially a cake filled with fruit and (optionally) topped with a crumble topping. Buckles, along with similar evocatively-named desserts like grunts, slumps and cobblers, are a great way to use an abundance of fresh fruit before it goers bad. 

At this time of year we still have a lot of fresh berries and stone fruits in the local markets. This recipe uses peaches and blueberries, but you could use any berries you like, or even plums. 

This recipe comes from The Joy of Cooking, and I've been making it for years.  I like to add oats to the crumble topping, but you can leave them out or skip the topping altogether (but I recommend it!)

Recipe (slightly adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

Buckle
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 medium peaches, pitted and diced
1 1/2 cups blueberries

Crumble Topping
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons butter

For the buckle, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl mix together the butter, sugar and egg until fluffy.  Add the milk slowly and mix until combined. Stir in the dry ingredients until just mixed. The batter will be quite thick. Carefully fold in the peaches and blueberries. 

Spread the batter evenly in a greased 9-inch square baking pan.  

Mix the crumble topping ingredients together until combined and sprinkle over the buckle batter. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Cool 20 minutes before serving. 

The Beer Baron - Trick or Treat with Big Rig Brewing

The Beer Baron is back! This post comes from Matt and you can find him on Twitter & Instagram @geekcanuck

I’m normally not crazy about pumpkin beers that come out at this time of year, as they tend to just be ales overwhelmed by pumpkin pie spices. However, when I saw that Big Rig Brewing’s Tales from the Patch was billed as a “spiced pumpkin porter”, I couldn’t resist. After all, my love of darker beers -- particularly stouts and porters -- is well documented.

I decided to have it with my Thanksgiving dinner alongside the Clockwatching Tart’s amazing spatchcocked turkey and was immediately intrigued and impressed. The maltier, more robust backbone of the porter stood up to the pumpkin spices well and the mouthfeel was silky smooth and beguiling. It was even better than advertised and a quick check back to the can revealed that it wasn’t just a spiced porter, but a spiced MILK porter, which uses lactose (aka milk sugar) to impart a lovely, milky smoothness.

Clearly, I needed to talk to the brewmaster responsible.

“It’s become a tradition that started when I was still working at a brewery out west. Every year, I’d make a different pumpkin beer for my wife, so I’ve tried quite a few variations. I’m happy to say she likes this one,” says Big Rig Brewery brewmaster and co-owner Lon Ladell, who was kind enough to answer my geeky questions about his beer.

According to Lon, the idea behind Tales from the Patch was to create a beer that emulated the flavors of pumpkin pie with whipped cream, hence the lactose.

“Porter is a style of beer that already lends itself to some of the flavours that we wanted. We used crystal malt to give it a bit of a sweet, caramel kind of note and then added some chocolate and biscuit malt to give it that kind of graham cracker crust layer,” says Lon.

As for the spices and the pumpkin itself, Lon and the Big Rig team didn’t treat it much differently than anyone else making homemade pumpkin pie.

“We used a couple of local farms. We go and actually pick some of the pumpkins ourselves and then buy the rest. It was a lot of fun. Once we got them, we broke them apart and scooped out all the innards, cut them into four or five pieces, then we put cinnamon, cloves, allspice and brown sugar on them and then roast them in our ovens at one of our restaurants. It’s exactly how you make pumpkin pie,” says Lon.

Between the roasted maltiness of the porter, the spices used on the pumpkin and the finishing touch of the lactose, Tales from the Patch is nicely balanced, unique, and -- most of all -- delicious. It definitely goes down as an absolute Halloween treat and something I hope to find again next year (even if Lon has to brew a different pumpkin beer for his wife).

P.S. If you happen to get a little caramel square this Halloween, you could do worse things than pairing it with Tales from the Patch, assuming you can track some down at the LCBO.

Cranberry Sauce

Fresh cranberry sauce was one of the first things I learned how to make and it was my contribution to our family Thanksgiving dinner for years.  

And it's SO easy! There's no need to buy canned or pre-made sauce.  All you need is a $2.00 bag of fresh cranberries, some sugar and some water to make a tasty sauce.  I added a few extra flavours but they're totally optional. 

This recipe makes a lot of cranberry sauce, but it keeps for months in the fridge or freezer so use the whole bag.

When you cook the cranberries you'll hear them pop.  Cranberries are full of pectin so the sauce will thicken up as it cools.  

You can make this ahead and chill it for Thanksgiving day!

Here's the recipe: 

340 g (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries, rinsed well
1 cup water
3/4 cup - 1 cup sugar 
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (optional)
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest (optional)

Place the cranberries, water, sugar, ginger and zest in a medium pot. Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until cranberries pop.  Remove from heat and cool.

Fall Chicken & Apple Stew

This is a very simple fall stew quick enough for a weeknight but fancy enough for company, which is my favourite category of recipe!  

Also, this recipe makes a ton of stew and the leftovers are great!  The recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine.  Here's what you need for this quick fall stew:

Tart of the Month - Apple Pie

For Thanksgiving this year I was in charge of making apple pie. I know this is not technically a tart, but I prefer apple pie with crumble topping, rather than a double-crust pie, so it's very close to a tart.

I used The Food Lab's easy pie dough recipe to make the dough ahead of time and kept it in the fridge for a few days, then assembled and baked the pies the day of our dinner.

The dough is very easy to make in the food processor. I've been afraid to attempt pie crust in the past but I'm finding it pretty simple these days.  As long as you keep things very cold it isn't scary at all!

Here's what you need for two apple pies with crumble topping:

Tart of the Month Autumn Round Up

It's been a very busy month around here, so I didn't have time to make a new tart in September.  Instead, I thought I'd browse the archives for seasonal Autumn tarts I've made in the past.

There are some real winners here!

This Butternut Squash Tart with Sage, Honey & Chilis is really easy and makes a tasty, fancy appetizer or light lunch.

Stone fruits are still in season here in Ontario, and these Plum Tarts with Honey and Black Pepper are a sweet and sour treat.

This Roasted Vegetable Tarte Tatin takes a little more effort, but it is so beautiful and delicious, it's well worth it. 

I can't get enough butternut squash at this time of year, so here's another Butternut Squash Tart, this time with mushrooms and Gruyere.

Little Beet, Cheddar & Apple Tarts on puff pastry are a simple treat for a savoury dessert or snack.

Tarte flambée, or Flammekueche is similar to pizza and makes a wonderful dinner when nights get cooler.  

Carrots are in season and I love the way this Carrot and Herb Tart uses a variety of coloured carrots with the green of fresh herbs. 

And, finally, it isn't really fall without some pumpkin spice. These Pumpkin Spice Tarts have a gingersnap crust I love. 

Get outside and enjoy the season!  

Tart of the Month - Butternut Squash with Sage, Honey & Chilis

You really can't go wrong with these puff pastry tarts.  They come together in minutes and bake quickly.  They work great as an appetizer, side dish or as a quick lunch.  I keep all-butter puff pastry in the freezer at all times now, and I can whip up a tart at a moment's notice.  

This recipe comes from Bon Appetit.  It's a has a few steps, but it's super easy to do.  Here's what you need:

Tart of the Month - Pumpkin Spice Tarts

It's that time of year!  Pumpkin spice is on everyone's mind. 

I was never a huge fan of pumpkin pie - it's a little dense and the texture isn't that appealing to me.  But these pumpkin spice tarts are lightened up with cream cheese, and I love the gingersnap crust.  

Here's what you need for these easy fall treats:

Barley Mushroom Risotto

Although making a satisfying traditional risotto is one of my greatest cooking struggles, this barley risotto can't fail. It's easy and delicious every time.  It does take a bit of hands-on stirring time but the results are very satisfying.  Epicurious has the original recipe.

Here's what you need:

4.5 cups chicken or beef stock (I used a combination. It's about 1.5 cartons)

• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 3/4 teaspoon dried
• 1 bay leaf

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (these are white, cremini and shiitake), sliced
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

First, warm your stock in a small pot over medium heat until just below a boil, then set it to low to keep it warm.  I am using packaged beef stock here but this is probably the last time I'll buy it after reading that packaged chicken stock is almost always much better in quality and flavour. Using chicken stock where it calls for beef won't make your dish taste like chicken, it'll just have better flavour.  

Next, melt the butter in a bit of oil in a large pan.  I like to use a bit of oil when I cook with butter because it keeps the butter from burning.  

Add in your chopped onions and sauté until softened and translucent.

Take a cup of pearl barley which is polished barley that cooks faster than other kinds.

Add the barley and thyme to your onions.  You can chop the thyme but I just add the full stems and remove them at the end.

Stir to coat the barley with butter.

And then add 2 cups of the warm stock and bring to a boil in the pan.  Reduce heat and simmer until stock is absorbed, about 5 minutes.  

Then keep adding and stirring in additional stock about 1/2 a cup at a time until all the stock is absorbed and the barley is tender.  This'll take about 45 minutes.

Eventually it'll look something like this.

Meanwhile, as the barley cooks, add some oil to a separate pan over high heat to cook the mushrooms.

Add the mushrooms to the hot pan and brown for about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium, add minced garlic and cover and cook for about 5 more minutes until tender.  

By now your barley should have absorbed all the stock and should look like this.

Add the mushrooms and chopped parsley to the barley.

And stir to combine.

Serve the glossy, rich barley and mushrooms as a vegetarian main course (substitute vegetable stock) or as an accompaniment to roasted chicken. I served it with lamb sausage and green beans.  

This is a wonderful fall and winter dish.