Hamantaschen with Melissa

Melissa and I made our own variation of Claudia Roden's hamantaschen recipe.

We replaced regular flour with spelt flour and we used sucanat instead of sugar. In addition, instead of the traditional poppy seed filling, we made our own chocolate chip, almond and coconut filling.

First off, we mixed the dough in the food processor which took no time at all! I sooooooo love my new food processor!

Next, we wrapped the dough in saran wrap and put it in the fridge for 20 mins or so. This was in order to make the dough a little firmer so that it's easier to make the shape of the hamantaschen.

Once we took the dough out of the fridge, we cut circles out of it, put the filling inside and shaped the hamantaschen.


It takes about 15 mins in the oven and they're done.



In the end, they turned out quite well. However, we found that the portions of sugar (sucanat) and vanilla extract were not enough to flavor the dough. The filling was excellent but the dough tasted very plain.
The portions allocated were 2 tbsp sugar and drops of vanilla extract. In my opinion, the recipe should call for at least 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract. In that case, the dough will have a bit more flavor and there are other hamantaschen recipes I've seen with those portions allocated, but not this one.

Lottie's Biscotti

Today was my attempt at making Lottie's Biscotti.

As per the link above, this was a recipe from the Kosher Foodies. It is chocolate chip and almond biscotti, yum yum!

First off, I roasted the almonds for a few mins. I roasted them in a pan for about 5-10 mins until they browned a bit.


Secondly, I mixed all the dry ingredients together.


The next step was to mix in a food processor 1 cup of almonds and 1 cup of dry mixture until a fine powder results. This was my first use of my new Cuisinart food processor, which I purchased about a week ago. To process the mixture took 5 seconds! Whoa!


Once the processing was complete, I combined the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and mixed in the powder as well. The dough is formed as follows:



Once the dough is formed, I shaped it into 2 logs and baked it for about 40 mins.

(The first picture is before the baking and the second picture is after)

Once they finished baking, the recipe instructed to let it cool and then cut it into pieces, then bake the pieces for an additional 25-30 mins. In this part, we let it cool a little too long which made it hard to cut. This is because we decided to go out for lunch and then cut it up and do the second baking after we got back.
That was not the smartest decision: as a result of it cooling completely, the biscotti became really hard and crumbly, and made it more difficult to cut. If we would have cut it before it became too cool, it would have been softer and easier to cut. At least now we know for next time.

After cutting it up and the second baking for a half hour, this was the end result:


Even though we made the mistake of letting it cool too much before cutting it, they taste amazing! I could not have expected them to come out any better taste-wise. However, in the next attempt, the shape will definitely be better as I know now not to leave it in the middle and let it cool completely.

Note: even though this post has more "I"s than "we"s, I just wanted to mention that my husband helped me throughout the process. He is a great help whenever I need it!!!

Kamasutra Restaurant & Wine Bar

The third Winterlicous venture for my husband and I was Kamasutra. We went there on Thursday February 11, 2010.

This was a very nice place as you walk in, located at Bayview and Eglinton.
We got our coats checked for free, which was also a nice touch.

For appetizers, my husband had pomegranate chaat (puffed rice mixed with a bunch of other stuff), and I had chicken tikka spring rolls. Both were excellent apps, but my spring rolls, which came with a chili garlic sauce, were better in my opinion.

Main course was excellent as well. My husband had coconut curry chicken and I had butter chicken. These were served with rice and naan as is customary with Indian cuisine. I'm not sure which one of these was better -- both were awesome.

Dessert, however, was disappointing. I had blueberry cheesecake, which on the menu it said it was made fresh in house. Yeah right -- it came frozen and tasted as such, what a waste. My husband had ras malai (which is a typical Indian dessert of cheese with sweetened milk). This was good but not as good as the same dessert at Bombay Bhel, another Indian restaurant.

Overall, I would recommend this restaurant, just beware of the desserts.

Website link: http://www.kamasutraindianrestaurant.com/

Byzantium

The second Winterlicious adventure for my husband and I was Byzantium. It is located at Church and Wellesley in Toronto.

After walking in and sitting down, the first impression was really good. The place was small but nicely decorated, and felt very cozy.
First up are appetizers: My husband had PEI mussels in tomato sauce with chorizo, while I had cream of celery and potato soup. Both appetizers were to die for!
Main courses were as follows: My husband had a lamb burger with fries, while I had goat cheese stuffed capon with tabouleh and vegetables. Both mains were excellent, but personally, I preferred my capon to the burger.
For dessert, my husband had chocolate layer cake while I had carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Again, both were very good but I still preferred mine.

Overall, the service was very good -- the restaurant was packed but we were served in a timely manner. Also, considering it was Winterlicious, the portions were good size and neither of us left hungry.

I would definitely recommend this restaurant, and I would even go back there if it wasn't Winterlicious.

Here's a link to the website for more info: http://www.byz.ca

Stuffed Peppers

Dinner yesterday was, as the title suggests, stuffed peppers!!

This was a recipe from The Joy of Cooking, and this was one of two versions in the book (the one that contained meat, the other recipe did not).

For the meat, I used minced turkey. Other ingredients were tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, thyme, rice, salt and pepper. I made this after I came home from work, and as is usual for me, I like simple recipes that are easy to make and don't take too long.
I first steamed the peppers. After the peppers finished steaming, I sauteed the meat with the other ingredients as mentioned above. Once the meat changed color and was no longer pink, and all the other ingredients were mixed in as well, I stuffed the peppers and put them in the oven to bake for 25 mins. After 25 mins, voila!

Both my husband and I looooooved the way they turned out, and if the first time wasn't good enough, the second time will be better!!!!

The Host Indian Cuisine

Winterlicious is here in Toronto until February 12th. During Winterlicious, restaurants offer 3 course meals for a fixed price, which varies depending on the restaurant. The first restaurant we decided to visit was The Host, the downtown location in Yorkville.

First impression was that the menu had quite a bit to offer considering most restaurants offer limited menus for Winterlicious. When we first walked in (my husband and I), the decor was really nice and the staff were well-dressed and friendly. In short, the first impression was pretty good.

After we sat down, the waiter took our order pretty quickly, and our appetizers came within minutes. My husband had Mulligatawny soup and I had Samosas. The samosas were extremely small compared to other Indian restaurants I've been to, so I was quite disappointed. The soup, however, was quite good.
From this point forward, we played the waiting game. We were waiting minimum 20 mins (which felt a lot longer) for the entrees. My husband had Butter Chicken with Rice and Mixed Vegetables, and I had Chicken Vindaloo (very spicy) with Rice and Mixed Vegetables. Both meals were quite tasty, and mine was spicier than I anticipated, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Once we finished our meals, it took them another 20 to 30 minutes to bring out the desserts. Both of us had Rasmalai which is goat cheese with sweetened milk. This was really tasty, so no complaints there.

Overall, this restaurant was very good, but the service was slow. I would definitely like to try it again with the regular menu to see what normal portions would be like. Winterlicious portions tend to be a bit smaller since they serve 3 courses at a lesser price.

Here is a link to their website: http://www.welcometohost.com

If you're a fan of Indian cuisine, this restaurant is definitely worth a try.