Apple UpSide-Down Cake

This is one of my family's favorite deserts with apples. Curious enough I found this recipe years ago in a "Milk" calendar, actually is the 1998 calendar and still have it. I still buy the calendar every year, I love the recipes they feature. Especially because like in the calendar's name all of them are made with milk. The calendar is sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, and all the recipes are created especially for the calendar. a great way to include more dairy in your diet ( no offense to any vegans).

Ingredients:

Topping

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp bread crumbs

4 apples, cored and sliced

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cake batter:

3/4 cup butter softened

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup ground almonds

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

To make the topping, butter a 13x9 inches baking pan and sprinkle bread crumbs. Set aside.

In a large bowl toss the apple slices with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Arrange the apple slices evenly on bottom of the baking pan.

To make cake batter:

Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in ground almonds and eggs. Stir in the rest of the ingredients until smooth.

Spoon batter over apples. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes.

Or until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Place on a cooling rack for 15 minutes, if necessary run a knife around the edges. After 15 minutes, place the cooling rack on top of the baking pan and invert the cake. Let cool completely before cutting.

Serve with whipped cream if desired.

Enjoy!

Savory Chicken with Sausages

This is one of Brandon's favorite sunday dish, he loves the sausages and also the spicy tang that the chicken gets seasoned with, being cooked together with the  sausages.

Serve with roasted potatoes and a crispy green salad and you'll have everybody singing your praises.

I used mild Italian sausages but if you are adventurous you can use hot sausages, also the chicken tights can be replaced by chicken drumsticks.

Ingredients:

Chicken tights bone in and skin on about 2 1/2 lb.

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried sage

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

8 mild Italian sausages about 1 1/2 lb

1 cup dry white wine

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Trim any excess fat from the chicken.

In a small bowl combine the oil,  minced garlic, thyme, sage and lemon juice and stir to mix well.

Brush over both sides of the chicken tights, and brush any remaining mixture over the bottom of the roasting pan. I used some of the mixture to brush the sausages too.

Place the chicken skin side down on the roasting pan, and arrange the sausages around the chicken.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes, turn the chicken skin side up and stir in the wine into the pan juices and baste the chicken.

 Increase the oven temperature to 425˚F, and continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes basting frequently until the chicken is tender and golden ( the cooking time might differ depending on your oven).

Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange on a plate and if you wish cut up the sausages into 1 inch pieces and arrange around the chicken.

Enjoy!

Awards!

I"m starting this week with two new awards, a great way if I may say so!
I have to thank Kristy for the "Creative Blogger" award.
And I have to thank Shelly for "One Lovely Blog" award

Because I love this awards and I want to keep them ( or the award police is going to remove them LOL)

I am going to list seven things about myself.

I'm a sucker for my kids, I can't ground them, even if I do 1 hour later they are ungrounded. AND THEY KNOW THIS!

There is one thing I love more than baking and that is reading. I could spend an entire day curled up on the couch reading.

My favorite books to read is fiction, fantasy fiction. Yes, my dear friends I love gargoyles, dragons, ferries, witches and wizards. I guess we all have a kid inside us, mine comes "to light " when I read.

For my day to start right I have to be the first one up, so I can have my cup of coffee undisturbed.

I have a great stand up mixer ( was a very expensive gift from my husband) but to his dismay, I always knead the dough by hand.

I  HATE shopping for cloths. But I could spend hours in the kitchen department.

The best compliment I ever got was from my son Cass when he was in SK. He told the teacher and everybody else that his mom is 19 years old ( I was 31). I couldn't convince him for the rest of the year otherwise. Now is an inside joke between us.

Furthermore I would like to give those awards to some of my foodie friends who inspire me everyday.

Simona @ Alison's trials

Dara @ Cooking' Canuck 

Bri @ Take, Bake, taste and Create

Rebecca @ Chow and Chatter

Rachel @ Laptops and Stovetops

Tania @ Dulcis in Furno

Claudia @ Pegasuslegend

My foodie friends, when you pick up your awards and post it, please make sure you list 7 things about yourself and pass it to 7 other blogs.

 Thank you!

I just received one more award from Rebecca at Chow and Chatter. It's a friendship award. Thank you Rebecca.

Danish Pastry "Flowers"

I love making those for weekend mornings. I usually make the dough on saturday night, and place it in the fridge until morning. The boys love to wake up to the smell of freshly baked danish. Works great with hot chocolate and of course with a cup of steaming coffee.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup warm water

1 tsp granulated sugar

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup cold butter cut up

1 cup milk

2 large eggs fork beaten

1 large egg fork beaten

16 tbsp of raspberry gem, or apricot gem, or lemon curd

16 tsp of cream cheese cut in small thin cubes ( optional)

Icing sugar to dust.

Stir warm water and sugar in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved, sprinkle yeast over top. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Combine the flour,granulated sugar,salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Pour the milk into small saucepan. Heat and stir on medium heat until very hot. Transfer to a separate medium bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Slowly add the 2 fork beaten eggs.

Add the yeast mixture. Stir.

Add the yeast mixture to the  flour mixture, mixing until a soft dough forms. Place in a separate greased large bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with greased wax paper and tea towel. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

This is how the dough looks after a night in the fridge.

Divide the dough in 2 portions. Roll out 1 portion on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle of about 8x16 inches. Cut the rectangle into 8 smaller rectangles.

Fold  the corners of each rectangle almost to the center. Press down to make a dent. Arrange on a, greased baking sheet( or lined with silicon mat). Brushed with the 1 egg fork beaten. Repeat with remaining portion of dough.

Place 1 small cub of cream cheese if using, and spoon 1 tbsp of gem on top. I made some with raspberry gem.

And some with apricot gem. Cover loosely  with wax paper and tea towel and let rest for another 15 minutes.

Bake in a preheated oven of 400˚F, for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool down on a cooling rack, sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.

Enjoy!

English Rice Pudding

I love rice, one of my favorite side dish is risotto. It's just logic that also rice used for desert would be at the top of my list.

This recipe I found years ago in a rice recipe cookbook, since then it became one of our favorite rice desert.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of short grain rice

2/3 cup of water

1 liter of milk ( 4 cups, not fat free)

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup of whipping cream

3 egg yolks

3 tbsp of sugar

3 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 315˚F. Lightly grease an 7 cup ovenproof dish. Half fill a baking dish with water and place in the oven.

Wash the rice and leave to drain in a sieve for 10 minutes.

Bring the 2/3 cup of water to boil in a heavy saucepan, stir in the rice and let boil for 2 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

Stir in the milk and vanilla extract and bring to a boil stirring. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the rice is cooked.

In a small bowl combine the egg yolks, whipping cream and the sugar.

Remove the rice from the stove and set aside to cool for 5 minutes, then whisk in the egg yolk mixture.

Beat the 3 egg whites in a mixing bowl until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites thru the rice mixture then pour into the prepared dish.

Place the dish in the baking tin (the one that you placed in the oven earlier). Bake for 30 minuted or until a golden color on top

After 30 minutes, when the rice pudding has a nice color on top, cover with tin foil and bake for another 45-50 minutes until just firm.

Serve warm. Dust with icing sugar if desired or serve with fresh fruits.

Enjoy!

Chicken With Wine And Grapes

This recipe is a great fall recipe, I love the idea of the grapes baked with the chicken. In this recipe I used bone in chicken breast, but any part  of the chicken would work, or a whole chicken. This recipe originated in the Chianti region of northern Italy, where at the end of the summer, grapes mature and hang from the vines in plump bunches. Look for red or black grapes for this recipe.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts ( bone in and with skin )

1 lemon cut in half

2 tsp of dried sage

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup dry white wine

4-5 small bunches of grapes

2 tbsp of smoked paprika

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F.

Trim any excess fat from the chicken and rub with the half of lemon.

Mix the sage, paprika, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.

Sprinkle the herbs over both sides of the chicken breasts.

Place in a baking dish. Drizzle with the oil. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. In a small saucepan heat gently the wine and chicken stock.

After 20 minutes, mix 1/2 cup of the wine and chicken stock mixture in the baking pan and baste the chicken breast with  the pan juices. Arrange the grapes around the chicken and bake for 35 to 40 minutes longer basting with the pan juices and adding the rest of the wine mixture as needed it.

Continue basting the chicken and grapes with the pan juices and bake until golden brown and the juices run clear and the chicken is cooked. ( that depends on your oven).

Serve with your favorite side dish.

Enjoy!

Awards from Simona

Those awards were offered to me by my friend Simona at Alison's Trial. Thank you Simona! It's a great pleasure, and I'm extremely fortunate to have you as a friend.

                                                       

                                                   

                                                    

And I'm offering those further to a few of my foodies friends.

Drick @ Drick's Rambling Cafe

Tien at Cooking With Tien

 Rita @Sage cuisine

Take, bake, taste, create

Oana @ Oana's kitchen

Lydia @ Simply Lydia

Low-Fat Muesli Muffins

After Thanksgiving ( Canadian Thanksgiving), I decided that we should take a break from dessert, you know.... Give my oven a break and my waistband too.

Well, it didn't last to long, just until the boys started looking for "something sweet" to eat. Just like that the break was over, so I took my base muffin recipe and " remodeled it" to turn it into this low-fat muffin that I absolutely love, and the boys too ( surprisingly). Not to sweet, but definitely a dessert. Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole-wheat flour ( I used organic)

1/2 cup of rolled oats ( organic is best)

2 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup raw sugar ( or brown sugar if raw sugar not available)

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup of low-fat natural yogurt ( I had some blueberry yogurt left over that I used)

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract.

Topping:

1 tbsp of whole-wheat flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp of raw sugar ( or brown sugar)

1/4 cup of muesli ( granola, I used home made)

1 tbsp of vegetable oil.

Variations: substitute the yogurt with the same amount of puréed banana, or apple sauce.

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a 12 muffin tin with paper liners, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a different mixing bowl combine the sugar, egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract and yogurt. Mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until just combined.

Divide the batter equally between the prepared tins.

To make the topping:

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle equally over the top of the muffins.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Enjoy! Without feeling guilty!