Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Welsh Cakes

Back in the saddle (again!) with some official recipe testing.

Yep, I made it to Choices and found currants. Yep, the Welsh Cakes were as a I remember them.
It isn't a recipe that I would race to try again or ever for that matter; however, they are good if you are looking for a good, sweet, but not too sweet, alternative for a biscuit or cookie alternative to have along with afternoon tea on Mother's Day (which is this upcoming Sunday).

2 cups flour
2 tbsp white sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
½ cup chilled butter
½ cup currants
2 large eggs

Mix together flour, sugar and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture looks like small peas. Add currants. Beat eggs well and add to flour mix and blend to make dough. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness and cut into rounds. Bake on top of greased skillet for three minutes on each side. Flip when brown. Serve warm or cold, with or without butter.

Not sure if I would recommend this for the cookbook or not. Maybe Sis had better luck with her lemon/blueberry version...

Next recipe? Borscht...

Braised Lamb Shank

In my attempt to re-institute dinners at the table, I whipped up a real Sunday night meal. I made Chambar's Braised Lamb Shank (with honey, figs, and cinnamon) from their recipe that was featured in the Vancouver Sun; Salad Niçoise (from rebar, the modern food cookbook --- such a yummy salad!!!); and couscous. The lamb sounds fancy but was super easy. Amazing flavours. The salad took the most effort with roasted red pepper, baby potatoes, beans, and roasted beets served atop a bed of greens, but was worth the work. Amazing dressing, too. The rebar cookbook is chock full of salad recipes and I want to try every dressing. Overall, the meal was a big hit that we both enjoyed sharing and it felt really good to put it together.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Vancouver Restaurant Awards

Vancouver Magazine published their 19th Annual Restaurant Awards. What inspiration! Reading about Chef of the Year: Pino Posteraro at Cioppino's makes me want to reserve dinner there tonight. Read, drool, and enjoy.

Oh god, not once a month

Well, I suppose it's better than nothing!

I am going to tackle the infamous Welsh Cakes recipe this weekend. I think my local Choices Market will indeed have currants; however, like Big Sis mine may be made with a twist [read: dried cranberries] since I don't feel like exiting the condo right now. The clouds outside are suffocating me. That may change later.

I've noticed "the twist" is what we do a lot. It looks like our cookbook will have the family favorites plus emphasizing the new generation! the sign of the times! the oobergay the istersay!