Radically Retired

Category: Food

  • Friday Freestyling … IP Brekkie

    Friday Freestyling … IP Brekkie

    I learned the word “brekkie” from a Canadian nurse friend who lived and worked in Australia for 10 years.

    In the Instant Pot™️ (not instapot) world, the social media shortcut name for this appliance is IP.

    For some, it was a passing fad, to be purchased because it was popular, and then to be sold or to be stored in a closet, never to see daylight again.

    I bought my first 6 qt IP eight years ago. Since then, I purchased a second 6 qt which I keep in Texas, and a 3 qt that I keep here.

    To this day, I use my favourite appliance three or more times weekly, both here, and in Texas.

    Why do I love it? Let me count the ways … on another day.

    Today, it’s because of the ease of preparation for steel cut oats. It’s basically dump, stir, and cook for the amount of time that makes your oats the chew that you prefer. I like my steel cut oats to be fairly soft, so my recipe for apple cinnamon steel cut oats takes 5 mins cook time. It’s a set it and forget it cooking process – no stirring, no watching for doneness, no stove spatters, and overall easy clean-up. What’s better than that?

    Peel and Chop 2 small apples
    Add 1 cup oats to pot
    Add 1.5 cups water x 2 – once to oats and then again with chopped apples
    1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp alspice
    Add spices to pot
    After cook time is done, release pressure, stir, and add your sweetener of choice

    Feature photo is my IP Brekky prepared the way I like it, with a splash of maple syrup and some almond milk.

  • Happiness Is … A Tomato Festival

    Happiness Is … A Tomato Festival

    On the August (Saskatchewan Day) long weekend, two of my sisters (the third one was feeling unwell, so unable to join us) and I attended the third annual Tomato Festival, sponsored by the Regina Farmers Market group.

    A pit stop before the event. We wore matching shirts decorated with tomatoes

    This was the first time any of us had attended the event and we decided it won’t be the last.

    There were over seventy vendors, most selling freshly picked garden produce. There were others with everything from jewelry made from silver spoons, to honey, to baking – if it was home made or hand made, it was there.

    One of many vendors selling the stars of the show
    My sis next in age to me
    My baby sis
    Moi – The eldest and the shortest

    One vendor had some cute signs for his produce:

    They were plump and sweet
    Some of his beans were in a crock pot

    The event was held in the stunning Queen Mary II Flower Gardens, adjacent to our province’s legislative building. Although I’ve been there many times, I’ve never had a photo of myself there. Now I do.

    The day was forecast to be extremely hot, so we were there when the festival opened and finished our shopping by the end of the morning.

    I purchased all of the ingredients I needed for the borscht (beet soup) that I make every summer for our mom. It’s her favourite soup, and we arrived home early enough for me to get the borscht made in my Instant Pot.

    A healthy haul
    Everything is washed and ready
    Chopped just the right size
    Borscht, accompanied by whole wheat sourdough bread that I also bought at Tomato Fest

    It was a “perfect in every way” kind of day.

  • Happiness Is … Achievement

    Happiness Is … Achievement

    After four years of learning and after making several hundred macarons, I came to a place where they were almost right.

    Through trial and error, I recently made a couple of tweaks to the process that solved everything.

    I was mixing my merengue too fast, and was stopping just short of correct macronage (mixing the merengue with the dry ingredients).

    My feature photo is of the batch I made with the technique adjustments.

    Macaron bakers are always in pursuit of four things: smooth shells, pretty feet, perfect texture (blend of slightly crispy shells and slightly chewy interior), and full shells (no hollows). Bingo! I got them all!

    After one day of maturing in fridge

    I’m completely happy with everything about these, and going forward, will apply what I’ve learned.

    As I’ve stated in previous posts, I have an ocd-ish personality. To finally get these right, frees up brain space to focus on something else.

    Hmmm … maybe my guitar?

  • Friday Freestyling … A Fave Sammy

    Friday Freestyling … A Fave Sammy

    Do you shorten the word sandwich to “sammy”?

    In favour of lazy lingo, we’ve done this for ages.

    What’s your fave sammy?

    Ours is the home-made BLT. We prefer home-made because we can be sure the bacon is thick cut, lower fat, and warm. There’s just something about this crunchy, soft, savoury, tart, warm and cold, combined meat and salad sandwich that satisfies so many sensory food experiences at the same time.

  • Friday Freestyling … When Not In Rome

    Friday Freestyling … When Not In Rome

    Last winter in Texas, with the helpful guidance of a friend in our park, I made my first attempt at Cacio e Peppe. Cacio translates to cheese and Peppe to pepper. Those are the ingredients in this spaghetti dish that’s apparently a favourite in Rome.

    With only three ingredients, you’d think the dish would be easy. It’s far from that.

    Pecorino Romano Cheese and Black Peppercorns are the two ingredients
    The peppercorns are ground small with a mortar and pestle, and the cheese is grated to a fine consistency
    While the pasta is cooking for half the normal time, the peppercorns are heated in a heavy skillet
    Pasta water is added to the peppercorns in the pan and then the pasta to continue cooking
    Meanwhile, hot pasta water is added to the cheese and stirred with a fork until it’s a smooth paste

    The cheese paste is then added to the pasta in the pan and stirred with tongs to coat – then served immediately (feature photo)

    The reward for the required attention to detail is a pasta dish with a creamy, peppery cheese sauce.

    My second attempt turned out even better than the first and hubs claims it as his favourite pasta dish.

  • Happiness Is … A Perfect Peak

    Happiness Is … A Perfect Peak

    Some days the baking stars all align and I know from the time that I see this exact meringue stiffness that my macarons will be perfect.

    The lemon macs from the merengue in my feature photo turned out nicely.

    As I’ve said in previous posts about these divas of cookies, my ocd-ish personality loves the attention to detail and perfection that’s required in every step.

  • Friday Freestyling: Muffinality Tests

    Friday Freestyling: Muffinality Tests

    As I was cutting my freshly-baked muffin for sampling (I sample everything I bake), I wondered if the way I cut and eat my muffin says anything about my personality.

    I was greatly amused in my research because other bloggers and instagrammers have already broached this subject – no doubt tik-tokkers have too, but I don’t use that platform. There are also many muffin personality tests that come up with Google research on the subject.

    Who knew that how you cut and eat your muffin, as well as your preferred kind of muffin says so much about who you are?

    My all-time favourite is the wheat bran muffin, and this one isn’t even listed in the type of muffin/personality list. I wonder what that means? Wheat bran is unheard of where we winter in south Texas, so I take a winter’s supply of it along each fall.

    Apparently (according to one blogger), the way I cut and eat my muffin indicates that I’m a realist and am getting things done. That post also says, that as a 50-50 person, I don’t care much about food except that it’s for fuel. Hmmm. And I thought I cut it that way because it’s more aesthetically pleasing on my plate.

    What’s your favourite muffin and how do you cut/eat it?

  • Friday Freestyling … My Best

    Friday Freestyling … My Best

    Since returning home from Texas, I’ve been struggling with my French macarons.

    A part of the problem was adjusting to my new oven.

    Good/OK: The first batch I baked, using the Swiss Method, looked OK, but the shells were so fragile that you couldn’t touch them without leaving a dent. The shells weren’t shiny and they sported a bumpy surface. Plain shells with vanilla bean ganache. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my Callebaut Belgian chocolate, so the filling was just as “iffy” as the shells.

    “Good” (OK)

    Better: Back to the drawing board for my next batch. This time, I adjusted the cook time, because I had a feeling that my new oven wasn’t holding stable temperatures.

    I used Swiss method again. This batch wasn’t as fragile. The shells were espresso flavoured and the filling was an espresso French buttercream. I tried some new edible glitter to decorate, but didn’t care for the end result. The surface, even without the glitter dust was shinier, but still too bumpy for my liking.

    “Better”

    Best: My feature photo was my third bake, with the troubleshooting adjustments I figured out along the way.

    I purchased a finer strainer for sifting the dry ingredients.

    I switched back to the French Method that I’d always had good success with.

    I increased the bake time by two minutes.

    My order for Callebaut Belgian chocolate finally arrived.

    These were almond flavoured shells coloured with a hint of pink gel food colouring. I used sanding sugar to decorate. The filling is a white chocolate strawberry ganache flavoured with freeze dried strawberry powder.

    These are the best this non-pastry chef can turn out and I’m happy with them.

  • Friday Freestyling … One Dish Delish

    Friday Freestyling … One Dish Delish

    Over the past couple of years, I’ve become intrigued by the simplicity of sheet pan meals.

    These easy-to-prepare creations are limited only by what ingredients you have on hand, your imagination and the oven temperature.

    My most recent attempt used farmer sausage, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and onions. While the oven pre-heated to 425° F, I cleaned, chopped, and cut the veg and sliced the sausage. I then just tossed it all into a bag and coated everything with a mixture of olive oil, herbs, and spices. From there, the mixture got spread out on a parchment paper lined, rimmed, baking sheet and baked until veggies were fork tender. (Approximately 1 hour)

    Because carrots are more dense than potatoes, they take a bit longer to bake. Next time, I may cut them into thinner slices to compensate for this.

    All in all, the meal turned out tasty and hubs-approved.

    Because the pan was large and I couldn’t think of appropriate props, the dish was challenging to photograph. I decided that fill the frame was the best option.

  • Special Spuds

    Special Spuds

    There’s a Canadian organization known as Second Harvest. It’s been operating since 1985 and is Canada’s largest food charity.

    Their mission is to reduce food waste from restaurants and grocery stores by “rescuing surplus foods” and then offering unspoiled, yet unsold food at no cost to the hungry.

    Last week, the organization delivered a truck load of potatoes to our community.

    These were big bags of spuds and there were lots of them!

    📸 Family Place, Weyburn, SK
    📸 Family Place, Weyburn SK

    Many folks showed up to get their free spuds.

    Once those in need got theirs, a new poster was added to The Family Place FB page:

    📸 Family Place

    My sis and I decided to go get some to help with the mission of no good food to the landfill.

    The potatoes were lovely, firm, fresh, and clean (feature photo)

    There’s a similar organization in the USA, known as Feeding America.