Our Christmas Feast

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you are all having a lovely holiday season, filled with warmth, family and friends. And good food.
It seemed silly to have a turkey die for just the two of us this year, so I cooked us a non-traditional meal, special nonetheless!

We had lentil-walnut balls with homemade cranberry sauce (recipe here), cornbread stuffing (recipe here), roasted Brussel sprouts, and a simple sweet potato casserole - roasted sweet potatoes mashed with butter and a couple of tablespoons of whipping cream, topped with toasted pecans and brown sugar.

This morning I made my perfect pancakes with some chocolate chips added to the batter, because it is Christmas, after all!

Sending lots of love and joy to you all.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Happy Friday!

At work, we have a magic table. Food appears on it regularly, and at this time of the year, it is insanity: every time you look at it, some new delicacy has popped up. Soups, pretzels, bread, cookies, smoked salmon, crackers, cheese, chilli, fudge, and countless boxes of chocolate have appeared in this fashion over the past few days.
Does that make me want to bake any less? Nope.

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Sweet Potato Biscuits: (makes 6)

- 1 small sweet potato (about 1/2 to 3/4 once roasted and pureed)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup almond milk or regular milk
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- black pepper, to taste

Glaze:
- 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup

Roast the garlic + sweet potato - about 35 minutes at 375F.
Mix the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Turn the oven up to 400F. Lightly grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal (optional).
Once the sweet potato and garlic are roasted, scoop out the flesh and the garlic cloves and place into a blender with the maple syrup, butter, water and milk. Blend until smooth.
In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pepper.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry mixture until the dough starts to come together.
Generously flour a clean surface and dump the dough on it. With your hands, knead a few times until the dough holds together (not too much, otherwise your biscuits will turn out very dense).
Flatten into a 1 inch thick rectangle and cut into biscuits using a cookie cutter or a plain old glass.
Place onto prepared baking sheet and glaze.
Bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes.

Delicious with an African Peanut Stew from the Oh She Glows Cookbook

Have a wonderful weekend!

Wholesome Apple Crumble

I hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday night!

My Saturday night may have started the same way yours did: I put on a pretty dress and went to a Christmas party. However, I make no apologies for the fact that I am an old lady at heart. After sampling the buffet and going for two rounds of dessert, I decided that it was time to head home. It was, after all, past 8:30pm and therefore past my bedtime ;)

So here I am in my cozy pyjamas, watching a documentary in bed with the dog curled up on my feet (and under the covers), my pretty dress safely put away in my closet. And as lame is it sounds, this is my idea of a good Saturday night. 

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I made this apple crumble in 4 little ramequins, but feel free to double the recipe and bake it in an 8x8 pan. I just thought it would be neat to have individual portions in the freezer, ready to be baked on a cold winter night. 

Wholesome Apple Crumble: 

The Filling:

- 3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

- 1/2 Tbsp potato starch (cornstarch or arrowroot would work too)

- 2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce

- 3 Tbsp brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (or pineapple or orange juice)

The Topping:

- 3/4 cup large flake oats, divided (1/4 cup processed, 1/2 cup whole)

- 1/3 cup hazelnuts

- 1/3 cup walnuts

- 2 Tbsp maple syrup

- 3 Tbsp melted butter

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease 4 x 1/2 cup ramequins. 

Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl then spoon into ramequins. 

In a food processor, combine 1/4 cup of the oats with the hazelnuts and walnuts until coarsely ground. 

Combine processed mixture with the rest of the topping ingredients. 

Press topping over the apple mixture in the ramequins. 

Cover with foil and poke a few holes with a fork for the steam to escape. 

Bake covered for 20-25 minutes (35-40 minutes for a double recipe in an 8x8 pan), then remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. 

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Good night!