Zesty & Spicy

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Montreal’s style everything bagels

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I’ve been hoarding this recipe for a while in hope to publish it in a book instead of a blog but, one thing this quarantine has taught me is: there’s no better time than the present.  Plus, nothing stops me from publishing it later on, maybe with a few tweaks or technical adjustments.

So this is the perfect recipe if you have extra time on your hands (not looking at you stuck at home reading this) and, you miss the nice chew of a Montreal’s style bagel.  Personally, I miss walking up tp the Mile-end, on a warm, sunny, summer day, to go buy fresh bagels on St-Viateur and then just walk around the streets and soak in the sun.  At that point I’m already snacking on my purchase and the sound of the crunch from my teeth biting in to the lightly sweetened crust to is music to my ears.

Super easy to freeze, pretty much like bread.  This recipe makes 12 everything bagels and you’ll need a stand mixer.  If you’re not used to making bread, this might not be the best project to start with because you’re going to play with a VERY hydrated dough which makes it difficult to handle.  If you feel up for the challenge, make sure to keep your work space floured but not too much.  Both of you hands should be well floured at all time.

As you’re shaping your bagels, make sure to deflate the dough before shaping it.

BON APPÉTIT!

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Carrot cake with cream cheese butter cream

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My nephew’s first ever birthday cake. <3

Such an honour to have had the chance to make this for this little boy starting his life in quarantine. No worries, he’s good and well surrounded plus, he liked the cake and the frosting so it’s confirmed: he’s also pretty cool.

Cakes aren’t something I dare to make often, for obvious reasons.  Luckily this delicious experience turned out to be perfectly moist and, just as I hoped, with a strong flavour of cinnamon and a touch of sweet nutmeg.  You can manually grate the carrots for this but, my personal favorite will be to use the hand blender.  The icing is not fully solid, nor too drippy either so it’s easy to spread and won’t fall everywhere as it sits in the fridge for a few hours.  Without being too sweet, it’s a definitely noticed added sweetest that balances all the strong and subtle flavours of the cake which I hope you will enjoy.

Another important trick to remember is to FOLD the dry ingredients in to the wet ones.  As we want a crumbly texture in result, the goal is to avoid the flour having time to build too much gluten which would create a more elastic texture once baked.  Gluten development happens when we over mix the batter like when we make bread.  As when we want to make a batch of perfectly crumbly muffins, making cake isn’t much different.

Oh and guess what??  You make this beauty a good day in advance and keep it in the fridge overnight until you’re almost ready to serve.  For top notch results, leave it outside of the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.

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Brown rice salad with whey dressing

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A fun salad that you can eat warmed up or cold with a nice crunch and a sweet whey dressing.

Top it with a poached egg and make it a meal or enjoy it on it’s own or as a side.  Personally, the version with the poached egg is my favorite and with a few droplet of hot sauce it’s even better!

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Fresh cheese

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Cant find cream cheese or simply fresh cheese at the grocery?

No problem!  You’ll just make your own and feel how rewarding it feels to create from scratch such humble product.  Personally, cheese making has always been something that excited me but I sadly havent dabbled in the process that much.  This simple fresh, spreadable cheese is my second attempt at the process after making Lebneh which is also something you will want to try.  Hope you enjoy this.

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Sweet potato & red lentil soup

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Instant pots are awesome.  I havent been talking a lot about them just yet but let’s say that mine is being use quite often and helps me eat food that would only be possible with many hours of prep and cooking.  In about one hour, instead of six, I get a perfect meal.  This soup is like the soup you’ll throw in at the last minute but will make you look like you’ve actually done something amazing.

To add the swag to your simple soup, it’s all about the toppings.  I kept it simple, for this one, and topped the soup with the thinly sliced dried peppers that you often find on a juicy bowl of ramens and a few drops of sesame oil and sea salt flakes (Maldon) – to add a fun twist.

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Turkey stuffed cabbage leaves

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Definitely in my top ten comfort food of all time.  My grand mother makes some incredible stuffed cabbage leaves but this isn’t her recipe.  This is the feel good recipe I made a few weeks ago when turkey is what was left at the grocery.  What started as fun experiment turned out to be amazing and I ate these bad boys in three days!

My initial goal was to freeze some but they didn’t make it to the freezer.  Looks like I’ll be making a new batch very soon.

I hope you get to try and like this recipe <3

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Chicken macedoine in the Instant pot

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Hard to beat this dish in term of comfort food and so quick and easy when you’re using an Instant Pot.

This recipe could be easily converted in a stove top version if you don’t have an Instant Pot, it will only takes a little longer.

I own the 7in1 duo mini Instant pot and it’s what I used for this recipe.

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Hot Chocolate mix, gluten free brownies

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The end texture of the mixed almond flour and chickpea flour is INCREDIBLE.

Soft, almost melt in your mouth but still a bit chewy and cakey at the same time.  The idea was to make a worthy chocolate afternoon binge while using a minimum amount of ressources as we all know what’s happening in the world today.  Since this new reality, my cooking has switched a bit and is focussing even more on managing waste and using limited produce to create delicious meals and snacks.  Follow me on Instagram, if you’re not already, to see what I come out with almost every day.

When coming up with this recipe, I remember looking at the thin choice of chocolate snacks in the pantry.  Truth to be told, I try not to have chocolate in the house because I’m too immature for that and ALWAYS end up eating almost all in one sitting.  People that are close to be know that I still prefer a fruit tart over a chocolate cake but it’s hard to say no when it comes to brownies.

Also because eating too much high in gluten ingredients hurt my stomach a little, it’s been fun to experiment with gluten free baking.  This recipe is a great success, hope you get to try it.

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