Squash & Aged White Cheddar Tart with Sage and Roasted Garlic Custard

I've been trying to keep up with what food blog events are going on so that I can participate. So when I saw that the Think Spice January spice was garlic, I immediately wanted to try out this tart made with a roasted garlic custard (from one of my favourite cookbooks, Rebar). I've never really thought of garlic as a spice, but who was I to argue with an excuse to make this tart. Doesn't that sound so intriguing?? Roasted garlic custard. Yum. I wasn't sure how the flavours would all come together. Would I be turned off by the sage? I couldn't wait to find out what the garlic custard would be like.

I was really happy with how everything tart turned out. It's not the kind of meal you'd make on a week night, at least not for me, but is definitely worth the effort on the weekend. The flavours of garlic, sage, shallots, aged white cheddar and butternut squash came together beautifully. The roasted garlic flavour was not as strong as I'd have liked it to be, due to the mashed garlic not incorporating very well into the egg/milk mixture. Next time I'll puree the roasted garlic with a bit of cream first. Unfortunately I didn't get any better photos than these because I have no idea how to take well lit photos at night in my kitchen, and it was completely eaten up that night. (I'm tempted to just post black and white photos so you can't see the ugly lighting!)

I ended up making the tart dough twice, really not having fun with my first attempt. I had written on the page with the tart dough recipe "simple and easy"! So why was it crumbling and not staying together? What was wrong with me? Did I measure the butter wrong? I could've just pushed the crumbly dough into a pie plate but since I really wanted to try out my new tart pan with a removable bottom, I had to make the dough again. The second time I made sure to mix the dough more before attempting to shape it into a ball to go into the fridge, and it turned out well. There was a little hole in the tart shell, which the egg ended up oozing out of while baking, but thankfully it was all kept within the tart shell and didn't drip into the oven.

And a question, when your garlic cloves have that green sprout thing in them, do you pick it out or just eat it? I usually pick it out.

Squash & Aged White Cheddar Tart with Sage and Roasted Garlic Custard
adpated from Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

1 pre-baked whole wheat tart shell
1 small butternut squash
1 tbsp butter
2 shallots, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream (18% cream)
1/2 cup half&half (10% cream)
2 garlic bulbs, roasted and mashed
1 tbsp minced sage
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
1 1/4 cups aged white cheddar

1. Cut the squash where the long neck and the bulbous part meet. Peel the neck, halve it lengthwise and cut 1/8" thick half-moon slices. You should have about 2 cups. If you come up short, peel and seed the other half of the squash and cut enough slices to make up the difference. Toss the squash with just enough oil to coat and a pinch of salt. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and spread the squash slices on it. Roast in a 375F oven until tender (about 15-20 minutes).

2. While the squash is roasting, heat butter in a small pan and saute the shallots with 1/4 tsp salt until crisp and golden. Set aside.

3. Lightly whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Add the cream, mashed garlic, pepper, and 1/4 tsp salt; whisk to combine.

4. To assemble the tart, sprinkle grated cheese over the surface of the pre-baked shell. Evenly distribute the shallots and sage over the cheese. Arrange the squash slices in a single layer and pour the custard over top. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the custard is set and the top is lightly browned.

Note: I used the 10" tart shell recommended, but had too much of everything. Or maybe I can't measure my tart shell properly. You can make up mini ramekins with the leftovers (including the leftover egg/garlic/cream mixture) minus the tart shell and bake with the tart. I'd recommend pureeing the garlic in a blender with a bit of the cream before adding it. When mashing it with a fork and trying to mix it, it didn't incorporate very well. I sliced up the extra butternut squash and roasted it to save for another day. You could try using less cream for a more solid and eggy tart, which is what I'll be trying next time.

Another tart I've made:
Apple & Spinach Tart

Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies

One of the yummy cookbooks I got for Christmas was Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie. Over 250 cookie recipes, how could I resist? I went through and picked 3 cookies to start with but only ended up making 2, this being one of them, the other being caramel-almond tiger cookies that I'll be posting about soon and you can see in the blurry background.

Usually I'm not really a fan of chocolate dough cookies, except I've really fallen for the Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies (which use actual chocolate in the dough instead of cocoa powder). And I also usually don't like nuts in my cookies, so I'm not sure what drew me to this recipe that uses cocoa powder and pecans. I was really happy with how they turned out though. Very chocolatey. This cookie seems to benefit from using chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips, and was the perfect excuse for me to use up the last of my Callebaut chocolate (which was quite possibly one of the reasons I loved these cookies.) And the pecans added the perfect bit of crunch and something special.

I love how cute these cookies are (not traditionally cute no but to me they are!) and I loved how they were soft throughout and stayed soft for days. They also freeze really well. And I have now begun my love affair with pecans. Okay so I've only made 2 baked goods with pecans so far (I added them to a muffin) but I predict good things in our future. Butter pecan biscuits from Dorie's book for one, and also pecan pie cookies.

Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies
Adapted from The Good Cookie

Makes about 34 3-inch cookies or 55-60 small cookies.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted*
12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet bar chocolate, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup pecan pieces

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars at medium-high speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract and eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of th ebowl as necessary. At low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until blended.

4. Transfer 1 3/4 cups** of the dough to another bowl and set aside. Add the cocoa powder to the dough remaining in the mixer bowl and mix on low speed until blended. Add half of the chocolate and half of the pecans and mix unitl well blended. Stir the remaining chocolate and pecans into the light coloured dough.

5. Fill one side of a measuring spoon*** with the light dough, making it well rounded, not level. Fill the remaining half with chocolate dough. Roll the dough into a bowl and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Moisten your palm to prevent sticking, and flatten the dough into a 1 1/2 inch disk. Repeat the remaining dough, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the lighter dough just begins to color. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

*I used regular cocoa.
**Don't be like me and put less than 1 3/4 cups because it looks like too much. You'll end up with more chocolate dough, which was actually quite tasty on its own.
***I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop but the recipe recommends a 1 tablespoon scoop.

Almond Coconut Muffins

I've gotten back into a muffin baking craze. Well a craze in the sense of I always have home baked muffins, and I've been trying to modify muffin recipes to make them healthier but still tasty. I was quite happy with how these muffins turned out (though now it's got me thinking about these most perfect cupcake-masquerading-as-a-muffin banana coconut muffins which I have to make again).

There were three main reasons I loved this muffin. The first because it is quite coconut-y, using coconut milk and dried unsweetened coconut. (And I went to look up the health benefits of coconuts so I could feel good about eating coconut. Coconut oil is quite good for you and regular coconut milk - not light - is too. Dried coconut I'm not sure, but it's so tasty!) I was also really excited about this muffin because it was my first time using "flax eggs" in a muffin recipe. I was scared that I would end up with flat sad little muffins or muffins that had gooey centers and wouldn't cook, but no, you can't even tell that they're made with flax eggs. I'm so excited about using flax eggs in muffins now!

The third and last reason I loved this muffin was because it's a dry muffin! A dry muffin you say? Who wants a dry muffin? Well I've found that many of the healthier versions of muffins end up having "wet" tops the next day. Maybe due to the applesauce used to replace the oil, or other things like water from fresh grated carrots or blueberries (which also happens in recipes that are not as healthy). I was just ecstatic to have a muffin that continued to stay "dry" for the next few days. These are not the moist fluffy kind of muffin - they're more of a dense hearty muffin. I need to do more to play with the ingredients to try and make it healthier too. Maybe replace the olive oil with coconut oil even and see how that works, though I don't know if coconut oil can be used in baked goods like that. Oh and I put craisins in some of the muffins which is what those red things are, for the curious.

Soon I'll post about my other healthy muffin modification (the almond coconut muffin I didn't modify that much): 100% whole wheat blueberry coconut nut muffin. Yes I like to shove lots of things into a muffin.

Almond Coconut Muffins
modified from The Garden of Vegan

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
egg replacer, equal to 2 eggs (2 tbsp flax seeds & 6 tbsp water)*
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, coconut, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the coconutmil, egg replacer, oil, vanilla and almonds, and stir gently until "just mixed." Spoon into muffin tins that have been lined with muffin cups and bake for 12-15** minutes or unitl toothpick comes out clean. Makes 10 muffins.

*To make flax seed eggs, grind the flax seeds up first in a food processor, magic bullet or something. Then add the water and grind it up a bit more. Now you have a flax egg! (From Post Punk Kitchen.)
**15-18 minutes for me.

Pan-Fried Onion Dip

Alright so I know the photo is not that great and the dip may not look that awesome but believe me when I tell you your life is not complete without it! Especially if you let the onions caramelize longer than the recipe suggests. It's extremely addictively good. While I was making this, I had deja vu. So I went to one of the Best of Bridge cookbooks and looked up the recipe for "Caramelized Onion Dip". That's odd - it's exactly the same, except the Barefoot Contessa recipe uses 2 onions (which admittedly does make it better). But I was just really surprised to see that it's literally the same, including cooking method and times.

Anyway, delicious. Make it! We ate it with baby carrots, celery, and toasted whole wheat pita cut up into little triangles. It's a heavy dip (with the mayo, cream cheese and sour cream) so I think vegetables are the perfect thing to eat it with.

Pan-Fried Onion Dip
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Yield: 2 cups

2 large yellow onions (about 3 cups)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick half-rounds. Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.

Put the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the onions and mix well. Serve at room temperature.

Gingerbread Cookies

There are two main purposes of this post, though one of the intended ones is not to give you a delicious gingerbread cookie recipe. I'd love it if someone did like the recipe. And I promise this is the last Christmas cookie post!

1. To make you feel good about your cookie decorating skills. I used the "Scribblers" icing pen things and they were not so easy to work with but still.

2. To give you a very molasses-y gingerbread recipe to compare against other gingerbread recipes before deciding whether it's one you want to make or not. If it has as much molasses as this one and you're not a molasses fan, then you'll know to look elsewhere.

I went to an old Betty Crocker cookbook thinking that I might find the perfect gingerbread recipe but no. I tried to cut the molasses flavour by dipping the top part of the cookie in white chocolate. It definitely helped but wasn't quite enough. For the past couple of years I've given out gingerbread cookies as part of the cookie package, but this will definitely be the last year. Gingerbread is one of those unloved cookies but I vow to find a delicious recipe! I know it's out there.

I love the soft chewy ginger molasses cookies (especially the Starbucks ones). I love storebought gingersnaps. But I just need to find good ginger cookie recipes to make at home. I'd like to find one good soft chewy ginger cookie (this one at Baking Bites being a possible contender) and a nice crisp but kind of mild cookie that's gingerbread-meets-sugar-cookie.

Since I don't think that this gingerbread recipe is awesome (but I think you molasses lovers will!), here are some links to delicious treats I've seen at other blogs recently and want to make!
-Cinnamon Apple Scones at Bake or Break
-Peppermint Cookies n' Cream Brownies at Baking Bites
-Lemony Meyer Lemon Curd at Figs with Bri
-Gooey Caramel Bars at Taste and Tell
-Half Whole Wheat Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts at Gigi Cakes (originally from 101 Cookbooks)

Gingerbread Cookies
Adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook (1976)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in molasses, water, flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Cover; chill 2 to 3 hours.

Heat oven to 375F. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutter; place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet. Cool.