Cauliflower and Cheese Casserole

I first made this recipe over 2 years ago, mentioned it in a post here and have meant to post it for some years. This is a great way cook cauliflower and is a dish that definitely stands out. Another great side from Canadian Living. Their recipe calls to steam the broccoli, but you can also blanche in boiling water, dunking them in cold water to stop the cooking.

Cauliflower and Cheese Casserole

- 1 large cauliflower, cut in bite-size pieces, steamed until tender.

- 2 tbsp butter

- 1 small onion, minced

- 1/3 cup flour

- 4 cups hot milk

- 1 1/2 cups shredded old Cheddar cheese

- 1/2 tsp dry mustard

- salt and pepper

- 1/4 cup fresh or dry bread crumbs

- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Place cauliflower in 8-inch square glass baking dish.

In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Fry onion, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook, stirring about 1 minute. Whisk in milk, 1/2 cup at a time. Simmer, whisking, until thick enough to coat back of spoon - around 8 minutes. Stir in Cheddar, mustard, salt and pepper, until cheese is melted. Pour over cauliflower.

In small bowl mix together bread crumbs, Parmesan and parsley. Sprinkle over cauliflower mixture and bake in 400 F oven until bubbly and golden, 15 minutes.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Growing up my mom used to make awesome birthday cakes and desserts (and still does!). I remember decorating cakes with gummy worms and M&M's, so good! But one birthday cake idea that has stuck around is the Ice Cream Cone Cupcake - exactly what it sounds like, a cupcake in an ice cream cone.

I remember having these at school - I need to remember to ask my mom how she transported them, because I've been bringing them to bake sales and work parties for years, and still haven't figured it out!

When I was working in a kitchen at a summer camp I started making these for kids birthday's, instead of the regular cake. I decorated them the same way my mom did, with jelly bean eyes and licorice mouths. It was great, no kid could complain about someone's piece being bigger or smaller. And I made sure each cupcake had 1 black jelly bean, so no one could complain about wanting another one because they didn't like the black jelly beans. It was great! Making over 100 of them sometimes was a little crazy, and a few would inevitably go down in the process.

Nowadays when there have been bake sales, potlucks or birthday parties at work, I've brought these back. And every time someone asks me how I get the cake into the ice cream cone. Everyone is always surprised to find out you bake the cake in the cone! Somehow the ice cream cone manufacturers got a hold of my mom's idea and started printing the instructions on the box, but that's okay, because everyone should experience Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

- Cake batter of your choice (you can use a box, or any si

mple vanilla or chocolate cake recipe)

- 24 flat bottomed ice cream cones

- Icing of your choice (I strongly encourage making your own but understand sometimes there are time constraints and the tubs are super convenient)

- Sprinkles, candies, chocolates, nuts...

Preheat oven to heat specified in cake batter recipe. Stand cones up without touching on cookie sheet. Pour 1/3 cup of batter into each cone. Bake in centre of oven for time specified for cupcakes (around 20 - 24 minutes). Check at 20 minutes - use a toothpick, when it comes out clean they are cooked through.

Let cool on rack. Decorate and enjoy!

Sunday Night Dinner - Pork and Broccoli Stir Fry

Because I love BBQ'ing pork tenderloin so much I often don't think about using it in other dishes. But pork tenderloin lends itself so well to a stir-fry, especially when you throw in some ginger and hoisin sauce.

Pork and Broccoli Stir Fry

- 1 pork tenderloin

- 1tbsp vegetable oil

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 tbsp minced gingerroot

- 3 cups chopped broccoli florets and peeled stems

- 2 carrots, sliced

- 1 red pepper, sliced

Sauce:

- 3/4 cup vegetable stock

- 2 - 3 tbsp hoisin sauce

- 1/3 cup of water

- 2 tbsp tamari

- 4 tsp cornstarch

- 1 tbsp rice vinegar

In small bowl or measuring cup whisk together ingredients for sauce. Set aside - you will need to whisk again before adding to stir-fry.

Slice pork in half lengthwise; cut crosswise into 1/2 inch thick slices. In large wok or skillet, heat oil over high heat; stir-fry pork until just a hint of pink remains, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Add garlic and ginger to work; stir-fry over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add vegetables and 2 tbsp water; cover and steam about 3 minutes, until tender crisp.

Return pork and any accumulated juices to wok. Stir sauce into wok and cook, stirring, until thickened and glossy, about 2 minutes.

At this point I add some Farkay noodles that I've already cooked and cooled. This would be great over rice as well.

A Hit and a Miss

It happens to all of us. You decide to try out a new recipe, and for some reason you decide to do it when you are having company. You figure the recipe looks pretty good, and you've never BBQ'd ribs before, but it can't be that hard right? So you go and pick up all the ingredients, and it seems like they're going to make an awesome marinade and sauce. Beer, sugar, molasses, dates...

And so you follow the recipe, exactly as it describes, and even when it's cooking and you think it might be on too long, you keep following the recipe. You make the sauce, and boy does it smell good simmering on the stove top. Adding the super sugary, smoky sauce to the ribs is going to be so great.

And here's where it all goes wrong...

We realized soon after brushing the sauce on both sides, turning the heat to medium-high and cooking 15 minutes (as directed) that there was something wrong. See, they burned. And they burned bad. Like pretty much inedible bad.

Our friends were good sports, and we all actually ate them (well, what was left of them). At least we had a salad.

But there was a redeeming factor to the night. I had taken the time that afternoon to make a strawberry-rhubarb lattice pie. And I'd made some vanilla ice cream to go with it. So while eating the warm pie with ice cream, and having a great time catching up with friends, I realized that sometimes it does all balance out.

Lessons learned:

First, even though I've heard this a million times, read your recipes closely! And think about how things cook and react to temperature and other factors. I've heard somewhere that cookbooks and recipes have a 10% margin of error. It could be a typo. And if you ever doubt a recipe, don't doubt yourself. Try it your way; it can't be worse than burning the ribs to a crisp!

Secondly, sometimes it's not a good idea to try a new recipe out with guests, if it's something you've never done before (ie. BBQ ribs). We're going to try that recipe again, but this time we're going to add the sauce to the ribs after they come off the BBQ!

Blueberries and Muffins

The blueberries are finally out in BC, but due to an increase in bears and aggressive cougars, I would not really recommend picking wild blueberries right now. Luckily, the berry farm where I went for Strawberries and Raspberries also has Blueberry bushes. Now these are way different than picking wild blueberries, but the fruit is still as sweet. I went out last weekend and picked myself one bucket, but now I'm thinking I might need to go back again!

After freezing half of them, and just munching on almost the rest, I decided to make some muffins. I thought about making my standard Lemon Blueberry muffins - a staple at the Cavanagh house (and very good!), but decided to look around online and see what was out there. And of course it was the Canadian Living website that brought me what I can only describe as an incredible new blueberry muffin recipe. I made a dozen last night, and there are only 3 left (and yes, that was just myself and Brent eating them!).

Maple Blueberry Muffins

- 2 cups flour

- 1/4 cup sugar

- 1 tbsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 egg

- 1/2 cup maple syrup

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1/4 cup butter, melted

- 1 cup fresh blueberries

Streusel topping:

- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used what I had, dark)

- 2 tbsp slivered almonds (I didn't have any, and instead used some granola, crushed)

- 1 tbsp butter, melted

- 1 tsp cinnamon

Streusel: Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Try not to eat it!

In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. In separate bowl beat egg. Blend in maple syrup, milk and butter and pour over dry ingredients. Sprinkle with blueberries. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Spoon into prepared muffin tray, dividing batter among 12 muffins. Sprinkle with streusel. Bake in centre of 375 F oven for 20 - 25 minutes, until tops are firm to the touch and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to rack and let cool.

Try to eat only one. I dare you.