Spicy Orange Tarragon Greens

Spicy Orange Tarragon Greens
shallots
garlic
finely chopped fresh tarragon
finely chopped parsley
orange juice
apple cider vinegar
olive oil
canola oil
salt and pepper, to taste
spicy greens

In a large bowl or pitcher, blend together the first six ingredients. Slowly stream in the oils until blended, then season to taste. Drizzle over spice greens for a sweet-spicy, citrusy and herby refreshing combo.

Sesame Soy Noodles

Sesame Soy Noodles
1 cup sesame oil
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper

Whisk all ingredients together and set aside.
Cook rice vermicelli noodles according to package directions and shock in cold water.
Drain well then add the noodles to the marinade and allow to marinade for at leas tone hour.These noodles are good cold but also delicious fried in a pan to reheat.

Citrus Pound Cake

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Citrus Pound Cake with a citrus syrup, lightly spiced whipped cream, and lemon curd. 
Citrus Pound Cake = flavored with lemon, lime, and orange
Citrus Syrup = reduction of orange juice and lime juice with sugar
Lightly Spiced Whipped Cream = flavored with ginger and nutmeg
Lemon Curd
Lime Twist
Fresh Mint Leaf

Citrus Crema

Citrus Crema
1 kg sour cream, strained of excess liquid if necessary
juice and zest of 4 oranges
juice and zest of 6 lemons
juice and zest of 6 limes
1 bunch chives, finely cut

Fold all ingredients together - season to taste with some salt if necessary. This crema is a good consistency to smear, pipe, or spread.
Pairs well with salty, fatty items such as fish cakes.

Stir-Fry and Garlic Bread

Vegetable stir-fry with red bell pepper strips, shaved fennel, parsnip batons, kale leaves, onion, and macadamia nuts. The stir fry is starte din a hot pan with a little oil, sauteed for a very short amount of time, and then finished with an orange ginger sauce.
On the side is some toasty homemade garlic spread on homemade bread to make homemade garlic bread.

Citrus Spice Nut Cookies

This is a cookie recipe I came up with tonight - inspired by a cupboard full on ingredients, holiday spice flavors, and vegan baking. This cookie doesn't necessarily have to be a holiday cookie, but it does contain some nice holiday spice flavors. It is a healthy cookie - not too sweet, but the sweetness comes from maple syrup, oranges, and raisins. It uses whole wheat and nut flours, and a baking soda vinegar mixture in place of the egg, and minimal oil. This retains a soft, moist cookie that is vegan-friendly.

Citrus Spice Nut Cookies
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 large (navel) oranges
1/2 teaspoon each: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves, ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup each golden and Thompson raisins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup each: ground almonds, ground walnuts, ground pistachios
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon each: lemon extract, orange extract, almond extract

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the syrup and oil in a medium saucepan. 
Peel the oranges, cutting the peel into small pieces and reserving. Cut all the white bitter pith from the oranges, and slice into segments. Add to the pot. Sprinkle all the spices over top, then add the raisins. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, cover, and simmer for ten minutes or so until aromatic and the orange segments have completely broken down. Let cool slightly, then transfer to a blender. Blend until no large chunks remain - it doesn't have to be completely smooth and should not be liquidy, just enough to cut the peel into fine zest.

Combine the flour, nuts, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the blender mixture. Add the vinegar to the baking soda in a tall cup, let it bubble, then add along with the extracts. Mix well. 

Roll the dough into small balls, about 1/2 inch, and place slightly apart on prepared baking sheets. bake for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms are brown and cookies are no longer doughy. Let cool before transferring from the cookie sheets.

I decorated these with a simple rum icing to suit the occasion.

Roasted Carrot Coconut Sauce

This is a really quick and easy sauce recipe I came up with on the fly. It is not based on any classic mother sauces, but just a light, simple contemporary sauce. It is a good accompaniment to light meats - such as fish or roasted chicken, as well as a nice sauce for vegetables. It is also good on bread and biscuits. For a sauce I was worried about working out and thought was quite simple, it certainly earned some rave reviews!

Roasted Carrot Coconut Sauce
1 large carrot, peeled
1 can (398mL) coconut milk
1 large navel orange, juiced
2 Tablespoons minced chives
salt and pepper, to taste

Roast the carrot in the oven until tender. Mash until smooth.
Meanwhile, reduce the coconut milk in a small saucepan by one half. 
Whisk together the carrot purée and coconut milk. 
Whisk in the orange juice, a little at a time, until of desired consistency and strength of orange flavor. Whisk in the chives, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes about one cup of sauce.

Next time I make this sauce, I will double the recipe - one batch just isn't enough! My procedure isn't very detailed because I just made up this recipe as I went along. The oven temperature for roasting the carrot isn't important - you can do it in advance if you have something else in the oven to conserve energy - just throw the carrot in with it. If you want the sauce to have a really smooth texture, use a blender to purée the carrot or purée all of the sauce at the end. I went for a chunkier consistency and just mashed the carrot with a fork. The amount of orange juice you add and the amount you reduced the coconut milk depends on how thick you would like the sauce and how concentrated you would like the flavors. 

Orange Bran Muffins

These muffins are moist, with a nice texture. They are healthy with a refreshing flavor.

Orange Bran Muffins
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
2 cups natural wheat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup oil
juice of two large blood oranges, strained'
zest or two large blood oranges

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line muffin cups with paper liners.
In a large bowl, stir together the first six dry ingredients.
In a separate medium bowl, beat the eggs, then beat in the milk, oil, juice, and zest. Stir into dry ingredients until just combined.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 18 muffins.

Note: If blood oranges are unavailable, any type of orange can be used. Blood oranges give a more pronounced orange flavor, so use additional juice/zest if desired.

Marmalade Bars

Marmalade Bars
4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butter or hard margarine, softened
2 large eggs
2 cups orange marmalade

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line a 9x13 inch rectangular pan.
In a large bowl, crumble together all ingredients except the marmalade until well blended. Press two-thirds of the mixture into the prepared pan.Spread evenly with the marmalade, then crumble remaining crust over top. Bake for about 25 minutes until light golden.

This is sort of similar to the recipe for jam bars, except the crust is more tender and crumbly and doesn't require the fuss of rolling and cutting. I bet this recipe is great with any type of jam, and would be especially tasty with a homemade jam filling.

Traditional Panettone

This year, I decided to try a new recipe that I found in a reputable baking textbook. No other recipe from this book had failed to disappoint me, and I had tried several, so I decided to go with this one. This new panettone, although a bit heavier than the old recipe, was certainly richer and moister. It is made by the enriched straight dough method for yeast breads. It was also chock-full of plump, delicious fruit and flavor. The new recipe uses only egg yolks and a large quantity of butter for richness. It is flavored by vanilla extract and lemon and orange zest. It uses bread flour for a higher gluten content and more structure. Instead of making three or four smaller panettones, I made two larger ones and baked them in a bundt pan and a tube pan. 

There are a few major differences between this panettone recipe and the one I used to use. The old recipe was less traditional, and used cherries as fruit and also contained the addition of a little rum for extra flavor and keeping qualities. This new recipe uses more traditional fruits - simply raisins, golden raisins, and candied orange peel. The new recipe contains both lemon and orange zest, where the old recipe used the flavorings of lemon zest and anise extract. Both are yeast breads that are formed into small round loaves and baked either free-form or in panettone molds or similar pans. 

I definitely like this new recipe better though, and if I make panettone next year, I will be using this recipe again (unless I find an even better one).

Panettone Revamp

Panettone is a traditional Italian fruit bread that appears around Christmastime. You can get some really good store-bought ones, with simple ingredients and good flavor, however they are still full of preservatives (they last about a year) and just do not beat homemade! I have been making homemade panettone breads for the past three or four years. Before then, my grandmother and my father had always bought some panettone each Christmastime to enjoy, but I decided I could try making some myself. Now I like to give some out as gifts at Christmastime, and share some with family members.

The past few years I have been using the same panettone recipe I found in one of my mother's bread cookbooks, which usually makes 3-4 smaller loaves. It turned out really well the first year, but in the next two years I noticed several areas for improvement. 

I found this recipe a bit dry, lacking in fruit, and not quite as rich and buttery as it needed to be. Although I always found the fruit difficult to knead into it, I found the final product didn't have quite enough fruit. The flavor was there, but not quite strong enough. And the loaves were small with an uneven shape and appearance. Although I tried a few changes to the recipe myself, I decided to try a brand new recipe this year, and I will share the results of that trial tomorrow.

Dark Orange Sauce

If you need a quick dessert sauce for anything from angel food cake to fruit salad, to dark chocolate brownies, to fruit cake, to ice cream - this is it. The subtle orange flavor pairs well with chocolate, fruit, and spice. This is a really quick and easy sauce to make up when you don't have any berries or other fruit or do not want to bother boiling fruit for a long time, but don't want a sweet chocolate or caramel sauce either. The sauce is already fairly dark, but if you'd like an even darker color and a more caramel flavor, use brown or dark brown sugar. This makes approximately one cup of sauce, so scale the recipe accordingly. 

Dark Orange Sauce
1/4 cup butter or hard margarine
1/2 cup sugar (granulated or brown, depending on desired flavor profile)
3/4 cup milk
2 Tablespoons orange juice

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the sugar until dissolved. Stir in milk and bring mixture to a boil. Boil carefully for eight minutes, stirring every so often and ensuring the mixture does not burn. Remove from heat and stir in orange juice.

St. Martin's Day Muffins

This is a recipe my mother created. It is based from the recipe she makes every year in November, {St. Martin's Day Bread} . This is a bread flavored with orange and chock-full of plump, juicy raisins. The bread is delicious, especially warm form the oven, but it is a bit of work and a lengthy process. Despite it not being November, my mother made these similarly-tasting muffins. She didn't even tell me what they were, but from the first bite I was instantly reminded of her St. Martin's Day Bread. They definitely taste just like the bread, but moister and more compact. It is a good, yeast-free, quick-rise substitute for the bread without sacrificing any flavor. And the muffins are so rich, they don't even need a dab of butter!

St. Martin's Day Muffins
1/2 cup raisins + water to cover
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
zest of one large orange

Place the raisins in a bowl with enough water to cover and allow to soak overnight. Drain, but do not discard water. 
Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line muffin cups with paper liners.
In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, and milk. Stir in remaining ingredients except raisins until just combined. Stir in raisins. If mixture seems dry, add a little of the liquid from the soaked raisins. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Fruit Salad In A Heart

Here is a simple fruit salad I recently made. It's nothing extravagant, or anything a recipe is needed for, but I thought it would make a great, healthy addition to a breakfast or brunch, or even serve as a light dessert. It is a nice light dish to serve in the winter to brighten up a snow-covered world, but it would work well in the summer as well. These days it is not difficult to find just about any type of fruit in the supermarket, no matter what the season, so any fruits could be used. I used oranges, which are considered more of a winter fruit, strawberries since they are readily available and delicious, and local wild blueberries from the freezer. I arranged these three fruits in heart-shaped bowls, and added a small leaf for garnish. 

Spicy Orange Pumpkin Bars

It is fall, and a good time for pumpkin and spice treats. Here is a new one I am trying. They smelled absolutely delicious coming from the oven, but I waited until they were cooled and frosted to try them. I will feature the frosting recipe tomorrow. These squares are quite moist and spicy, with a nice balance of orange and pumpkin flavors.

Spicy Orange Pumpkin Bars

2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour

1 1/2 cups granulated (white) sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Line or grease and flour a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan.

Using an electric mixer, beat all ingredients together on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for two minutes. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and frost with Browned Butter Frosting.

Cranberry Crumble Bars

I had half a bag of fresh cranberries sitting in the bottom of my fridge just waiting to be used, so I decided to try this recipe. Cranberries are a very convenient fruit, as they will keep in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to one month, and they freeze well too. We had already had some cranberry muffins, and whole-berry cranberry sauce is not very popular in this household, so I decided to try some cranberry bars for something different - cranberry crumble bars. 

They turned out to be quite yummy and made a nice fall dessert. The crust was crisp like an apple crisp topping, and the cranberry filling had just the right balance of sweet and tart, with a hint of orange flavor. These bars are good warm or cold; fresh from the oven with a little vanilla ice cream or cooled to room temperature with a dollop of vanilla icing (or whipped cream).

I found the recipe while surfing online, here it is:

Cranberry Crumble Bars
FILLING
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice* 
1 Tbsp. finely grated orange zest
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
*One large orange should do for both juice and zest. Use two if you want extra orange flavor. If you are a liitle short on juice, add enough water to compensate.

CRUST
1/2 cup butter or hard margarine, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups oats (quick-cooking or old-fashioned)
1 cup flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)
1/4 tsp. salt

FILLING Bring all filling ingredients to a boil in a 1 1/2 quart saucepan, cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Cool.

CRUST Beat butter and sugar. Stir in remaining crust ingredients until crumbly. Press half of mixture into foil-lined 9x13 inch pan, spread with filling, and top with remaining mixture. Bake at 400◦F for 20 minutes until light brown.


These bars are quite flat, you could easily use a 9x9 inch pan for higher bars. This recipe could also be halved for a 9x9 inch pan.

 "Cranberry Crumble Bars.” https://www.lifemadedelicious.ca/Recipes/C/Cranberry-Crumble-Bars.aspx. Life Made Delicious, n.d. Tuesday, October 25, 2011.