Rotisserie turkey roast

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Happy Christmas to all who are celebrating this week!

Do you want a delicious holiday classic without the fuss of a full bird? I present to you – a rotisserie turkey roast.

Please note, pictures in this post were from a 7 lbs roast we did for my family Christmas dinner, which was BIG. Measurements below are for a smaller roast, but if you have a larger one, just up the measurements x2,

What you’ll need:

  • Turkey breast, preferably 4-5 lbs
  • 5 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 large white onions, diced
  • 5 tbsp ground sage
  • 5 tbsp dried marjoram
  • 2 tbsp onion powder
  • 2 tbsp cracked black pepper
  • 4 tsp kosher salt
  • several sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
  • several sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 5 fresh sage leaves, chopped
  • 2 cups of extra virgin olive oil
  • butchers twine
  • foil drip tray
  • meat thermometer

For the rub – combine diced onion, 3 tbsp of ground sage, 3 tbsp marjoram 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 tbsp black pepper and 2 tsp kosher salt in a bowl and combine

If the turkey breast is not yet netted/trussed, make a “roast” by rolling the breast and trussing it into an oval.

Rub room temperature butter all over roast then rub other ingredients until fully coated. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 2 hours (preferable overnight)

For the marinade – Mix olive oil and all remaining ingredients into a bowl and set aside

Remove roast from the fridge 1 hour before cooking to allow it to come to almost room temperature

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Place roast on the spit and get ready to cook!

You will want an indirect heat and a maintained temperature of approximately 350°F. Depending on the temperature outside, you may need to play around with your settings and keep an eye on the temperature to ensure an even cook. For our bbq, we remove the lower rack and use the 2 outer burners to best achieve indirect heat.

Put the spit on the grill, start the rotisserie motor, and cook with the lid closed.

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It should take about 1 ½ – 2 hours to cook, depending on the size of the roast. However it’s better to go by temperature rather than time. You want the roast at the thickest part to read 150°F to 155°F.

Every 20 minutes, baste the roast with the marinade, ensuring you cover evenly.

After an hour, start checking the internal temperature with your meat thermometer.

Once the thickest part reads 155°F, remove from bbq and bring the spit inside.

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Tent with tin foil and let rest for 10-15 mins on a large cutting board.

Once rested, carefully remove roast from the spit then cut and serve with all your holiday meal trimmings!

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Pictured below – my amazing husband who bbq’d this roast to perfection in -5°C weather while the snow flew.

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Chocolate Irish Creme Pots de Crème

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Happy New Year!
(And happy 10th anniversary to this little blog!)

If you’d like a boozy/chocolaty kick in the face for dessert, look no further.

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I made these based on the original recipe from Baking Sense, but modified it to be chocolate AND Irish cream. You’re welcome.

Also, you can half the ingredients to make 4 servings rather than the 8 that’s listed.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (blitzed in a food processor or chopped up)
  • 1 1/2 cups Irish Cream (I used my favourite 5 Farms, but Baileys or similar would also work)
  • Hot water for water bath

Instructions:

  • Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Using a high sided baking pan or a roasting pan and arrange 8 ramekins in the pan.
  • Heat the whipping cream, salt and cocoa in a medium saucepan until scalding (do not let it boil!)
  • While the cream is scalding, combine egg yolks, sugar and chocolate in a medium bowl.
  • Remove the pot from the heat and slowly whisk the hot cream into the yolk/sugar/chocolate mixture until fully incorporated. Don’t combine too fast, otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled eggs.
  • Strain the custard into a pitcher or large bowl with a pouring spout.
  • Stir in the Irish cream and then divide the custard evenly among the ramekins.
  • Place the pan into the oven and carefully pour hot water to come halfway up sides of ramekins for a water bath while they set.
  • Bake until the custards are set around the edges but still wobbly in the centre, 25-30 minutes.
  • Once set, take the ramekins out of the water and set on a cooling rack. Cool completely then refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours.
  • To serve, top each dish with a dollop of whipped cream and a few chocolate shavings, if desired. I also hit it with a little sprinkle of flaky salt.

Christmas dinner: Individual Beef Wellington

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Happy Christmas to all celebrating today!

After 2 turkey dinners in the last couple of weeks, I was ready for something different for our Christmas dinner.

Cue: Beef Wellington –

I made Beef Wellington a few years ago, but it didn’t turn out as well as I’d have liked. So I’ve been searching the inter webs for an appropriate 2nd go at it.

After much reading, I decided to follow this recipe provided by Jess Larson from Plays Well With Butter.

Only deviation from the recipe was instead of using a loin and cutting into individual portions, I started with 2, 10oz filets from our local butcher.

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Forgot to take a picture of the making of the mushroom duxelles, but it turned out really nice. Make sure you cook out all the moisture to get the right texture,

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Using the saran wrap helps to form the prosciutto/duxelle around the steaks

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Once the rested steaks are brushed with the dijon mustard, it was time to wrap.

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I used a store bought puff pastry, as it’s just an easier route than attempting this recipe AND making puff pastry from scratch.

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Once they were brushed with egg wash and chilled in the freezer, into the oven they went! After 25 mins, I took them out and checked the temperature of the meat. For a medium finish, I was aiming for 140F. After 25 mins, it was reading around 115F, so back in they went for an additional 10 mins. Once done, they rested for around 5 mins then it was time for the moment of truth.

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Shoutout to my husband for setting the Christmas table.

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Et voila!

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Turns out, the steaks were more than enough for each of us. So much so, that we have leftovers for Boxing Day tomorrow. While it was a full afternoon of prep, I will totally be making these again and encourage you to try them too!

Mini loaf pan focaccia – The Practical Kitchen

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Want your own personal golden, crispy/fluffy, fresh focaccia from the oven? This is your recipe.

This recipe is from the culinary creative mind of Rebecca at The Practical Kitchen

Full recipe from start to finish can be found here

I’m only going to post the ingredients here. Why? Because her recipe is perfect, just as it is.

  • 120 grams – all-purpose flour
  • 5 grams – kosher salt
  • 3 grams – instant yeast
  • 5 grams – sugar
  • 10 grams – extra virgin olive oil
  • 90 grams – warm water
  • additional oil for the pan and drizzling on top
  • additional salt and/or herbs for topping (I used Farm Boy Italian seasoning blend and Maldon Sea Salt flakes)

This is a 2 1/2 hr recipe from start to finish, so make sure you give yourself enough time.

And use a kitchen scale for precise ingredient measurements.

Here’s some pics from each stage of the recipe from my bake today:

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A little mini-burrata, some more Maldon flakes and damn, if this wasn’t the tastiest lunch I’ve ever made.

Also check out the Practical Kitchen for many, many other recipes. I follow them on Instagram and love to see what they’re up to!

Icebox cookies

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My icebox cookie is inspired by this recipe, from the always awesome – Sally’s Baking Addiction. This is a great make-ahead recipe and pull out of the fridge or freezer when you need some cookies for a cookie exchange or if company is coming. Or in my case, when I want a cherry treat around the holidays.

Full disclosure: Had a big ole’ baking fail trying to make these earlier this week. But tried again and precisely followed instructions and success!

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup (170g) salted butter (room temperature)
  • 2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg (room temperature)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups + 2 tbsp (265g) all purpose flour
  • 1 cup of glacé cherries (or glacé fruit mix from Bulk Barn)
  • 1/2 cup of coarse sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)

Instructions:

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extracts on high speed. Scrape down the sides and continue to beat until just combined. DO NOT OVER-BEAT (*if you do, it will cause your butter to break and turn the whole thing into a sticky mess) Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed for 1 min then add in your cherries and combine well. Dough will be dense and slightly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface (with your extra 2tbsp of flour) and divide into 2. Roll/shape each half into a 7- or 8-inch log, about 2.5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle coarse sugar onto work surface and roll each dough log until fully covered. Tightly wrap the dough logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours, or overnight. If you do not chill, this recipe will be a disaster. Dough can stay in the fridge up to 5 days or freezes well up to 3 months. (to defrost from the freezer, let it thaw in the fridge overnight)

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When ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats

Slice each dough log into thick slices ( however many cookies you want to bake) and arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.

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Bake the cookies for 12–14 minutes or until very lightly brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely

If you want to make these a Christmas dessert, at this point you could drizzle some icing over and add some red/green sprinkles. But these cookies don’t need a lot of ‘extra’. They are the Bridget Jones of cookies – I like them just the way they are.

*If you over-beat your butter – this will happen when you bake them:

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However, when done correctly – these delicious beauties are the result:

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Christmas Cracker Crackle

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Saltine crackers? Good. Buttery caramel? Good. Chocolate? Good. This recipe? Goooooooooooood.

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This has got to be the easiest, most crowd pleasing, bang for your buck recipe in my baking arsenal. Great to cut up into squares and include on a cookie tray or put into individual treat bags. They keep for 1 week in the fridge of up to 3 months in the freezer. But good luck having leftovers with this one!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of salted butter
  • 1 cup of brown sugar
  • 2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
  • 2 sleeves of salted-top crackers (I use No Name Salted top soda cracker)
  • 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • toppings of choice (Pecans, flaky salt, crushed candy canes.. whatever you want!)

Instructions:

Preheat over to 350C

Line a cookie sheet with tin foil (spray with cooking spray) or parchment paper. Ensure the entire pan is well lined, as this will be a ooey-gooey recipe that needs to be contained.

Line the tray with saltine crackers. Don’t overlap! If there’s space leftover on the edges, cut crackers in half to fill the gaps

Over a medium heat, melt the butter and sugar and stir until butter is fully melted and sugar/butter is fully combined.

Add vanilla and bring up to medium/high heat until it JUST starts to bubble. Give it 2 minutes, keep stirring then take off the heat. Should have a nice caramel colour when you’re at this point.

Take the caramel and pour directly over the crackers on the lined baking sheet. Use a silicone/non-stick spatula to help spread the caramel so that it evenly coats all of the cracker

Put into the oven and set timer for 5 mins. This will let the caramel melt completely and soak into all of the crackers

Whilst crackers are becoming one with the caramel – Take a microwave safe bowl and melt the chocolate chips. Easiest to do so in small batches (45 sec. stop. stir, 45 sec. stop. stir, etc…)

Take caramel crackers out of the oven and immediately pour chocolate over and spread evenly from end to end.

Sprinkle on desired toppings while chocolate is still warm. With the batch pictured above, I used 1 cup of finely chopped pecans and some Maldon flaky sea salt)

Let it come to room temperature and then pop into the fridge for 2 hours to set.

Cut to desired size, or break into pieces… whatever inspires you. You literally can’t go wrong with this recipe.

Enjoy!

Lemon Risotto with Garlic Shrimp

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Well this may be my favourite experiment to date. Throughout the pandemic, I’ve found recipes I’ve always wanted to try but for whatever reason, never did.

Risotto is very intimidating as an amateur chef after years of watching Food Network and professional chefs being chastised for their risotto not being cooked properly. Too loose, under-done, bland…. so many ways to screw it up!

Found this recipe on Bon Apetit and decided I was ready to give it a go. Made a few tweaks and adjustments from the OG ingredients based on my own taste, but here’s what I used.

I think chicken or scallops would also have worked well with this, but I chose shrimp as the protein of choice this evening.

Ingredients:

Risotto:

  • 5 cups chicken broth
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 large shallots, chopped
  • 2 cups arborio rice
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay from one of our favourite vineyards – Ravine)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I used dried parsley and it was fine!)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 4 teaspoons grated lemon peel

Shrimp:

Used this PC Lemon and Garlic Shrimp and it was super easy to make and a great addition to the risotto.

Instructions:

Bring broth to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; cover to keep warm.

Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes.

Add rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine and stir until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups hot broth; simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently.

Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is creamy and tender, about 35 minutes.

Stir in cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in parsley, lemon juice, and lemon peel.

Transfer to bowl and place desired amount of shrimp on top.

Sprinkle with a little more parsley and season with freshly cracked pepper and Maldon salt

Also, the chardonnay was a great pairing with the dinner (and a great way to finish off the bottle)

Cheers!

Jalapeño Cheddar Ale soup

/ Meegs / 3 Comments
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Mmmm. Good soup.

Many years ago I had some soup from the cafeteria at work. It was so good, I spoke the chef and asked if they could share the recipe. Well, I lost that recipe but have continued to make this from time to time from memory.

Decided I should finally put pen to paper (err, keystrokes to blog?) and make sure I have a copy of this recipe forever more.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large yellow onions, diced
  • 2 bunches of green (spring) onions, diced
  • 3 cups of chopped celery
  • 2 jalapeño peppers, diced
  • 1 tall can (about 1 1/2 cups) of beer (pale ale or IPA are best)
  • 4 cups of low-salt chicken stock
  • 3/4 cup of 18% table cream
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 2 cups old cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 2 tbsp grainy mustard
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup salted butter
  • 4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 3 tsp dried parsley
  • 3 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
  • 2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
  • splash of Worcestershire sauce
  • salt to taste
  • croutons to garnish (or some fresh buns to dip!)
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In a French oven or stock pot over medium-high heat, cook onions, garlic and jalapeño in butter until onions are translucent. (approx 10 mins)

While that’s cooking, take celery and run through a food processor until it’s a pulpy texture

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Deglaze pan with 1/2 the beer then add celery. Add spices, mustard and Worcestershire. Mix well and add rest of the beer. Tonight I used Instigator IPA from a local Toronto brewery Indie AleHouse.

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Add chicken stock (save 1/2 cup) and bring everything to a simmering boil. Make a slurry with your cornstarch and chicken stock and stir in.

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Put your lid on and leave to simmer for 30 mins, stirring occassionally.

Turn heat down to medium and add cream and stir well. Add cheese in small batches, stirring thoroughly each time to make sure it’s melted (and not just congealing at the bottom).

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Hit it with the immersion blender and let it cook over medium heat for an additional 10-15 mins. At this point add some salt, tasting as you go. You DO NOT want to salt-bomb this soup and ruin the layers of flavour.

Serve with croutons or some bread, or even a dollop of sour cream. It’s not too spicy, but it still has some heat.

And that’s that! Delicious soup and lots of leftovers for this weekend, where it’s going to feel like -30ºC here in Toronto (Brrrrrr!) Glad to have some good soup to warm up for lunch tomorrow.

2021 Christmas baking round-up

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Welp, it’s January 2022 and the last 3 weeks have flown by.

Between the Omicron variant running rampant, my husband having emergency surgery (spoiler alert: he’s ok!) and me trying to make the best of things, there was a lot of stress baking. I’m one of those immunocompromised folks, so leaving the house hasn’t really been a thing over the last month or so.

Here’s the round-up of what went down:

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These beauties used a standard sugar cookie recipe and a royal icing design that I found on TikTok. Yes, TikTok.

Vanilla Confetti cake with Peppermint buttercream

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Next up was a Christmas cake. I used the recipe for the cake and the buttercream from the AWESOME cookbook I received for my 40th birthday last year – The Magnolia Bakery Handbook: A complete guide for the home baker. Only additions were the peppermint extract for the icing (I added sparingly and tasted as I went to make sure it didn’t end up tooth paste-y) and I also added a package of red-green-white quins for the confetti.

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New Years Eve rage cake

The days leading up to NYE were particularly not great. I was pretty angry and decided I needed to channel that anger. So, this cake happened.

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It was my first time playing with candy melts to make lettering. Some cracked, but it was fun to test out different designs. I used 3 cups of white chocolate candy melts, and melted them in batches in the microwave. Once it had cooled down enough, I put some into a piping bag and started making my lettering/designs on some wax paper.

The cake was a small chocolate cake recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction (my FAVE baking/cooking blogger) I made 2 layers with a salted caramel filling and the icing was chocolate ganache and some sprinkles/dragées.

Ginger and Black Treacle cookies

So I didn’t take any pictures of these cookies, but this is my go-to recipe from the BBC for soft, pillowy gingerbread cookies. Highly recommend! You can usually find black treacle in a UK shop that carries baking supplies. We love A Bit of Home here in the Greater Toronto Area. I can usually find sugars, treacle and a load of other goodies there.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

And finally, I had wanted to make cinnamon rolls at some point over the holidays, but life happened and they were left to the last possible vacation day. But, well worth the wait. Didn’t use any pecans for this batch, but that didn’t make them any less delicious.

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This is a recipe I’ve used several times from Williams Sonoma. A full post dedicated solely to these yeasty bois can be found here.

Dark Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream

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It’s our 7th wedding anniversary tomorrow, and after 408 days of stay-at-home because of a frickin’ pandemic, I wanted to make a fun dinner for us. And fun dinner calls for a fun dessert.

Happy anniversary, my love!

I adapted this recipe from It’s Always Autumn‘s Dark Chocolate Fudge ice cream recipe.

You’ll need an ice cream maker for this recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 2 cups 2% milk divided
  • 4 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1 cup 60% or darker chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 package of 2-bite brownies

Instructions

  • In a medium pot, heat cream and unsweetened cocoa over medium heat, whisking until well combined.
  • When edges begin to bubble, remove from heat and add chocolate chips.
  • Let them sit for a few minutes to melt, then stir until smooth.
  • Whisk in one cup of milk. Pour mixture into a large bowl and set aside.
  • Heat remaining cup of milk, sugar, and salt in a medium pot over medium heat, stirring until combined.
  • While that continues to heat, separate 5 eggs, discarding whites. Whisk yolks.
  • Pour all the eggs back into the warm milk, whisking well.
  • Continue to heat mixture until it starts to thicken. When it’s thick enough to coat a metal spoon, remove from heat and pour milk/egg mixture over the chocolate mixture.
  • Add vanilla and stir until completely combined.
  • Cover mixture and chill in the fridge for 5-6 hours until cold.
  • Chop 2-bite brownies into small pieces and set aside.
  • Once cooled, churn in ice cream maker for 20-25 mins until it’s a soft serve consistency
  • Put ice cream into freezer safe container and fold in brownie pieces until incorporated
  • Freeze for 3-4 hours (or overnight) and take out of the freezer for 10 mins prior to serving
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