Pouding au Chomeur / Poor Man's Pudding with a Maple Syrup Sauce

I visited Canada for the first time at age 17 when our family went to the World's Fair in Montreal.
I used to go camping in Canada when I was in high school, during the summer vacation. I've skied at Mont Saint Anne de Beaupre in Quebec and in Whistler, British Columbia.

 I grew up speaking French and until I went to Europe, Canada was my closest connection to the language. I've had the good fortune to have been able to travel to many countries and I always embrace their culture and their food. We used to eat Pouding au Chomeur and I had forgotten about it. I began researching various recipes for it and this is what I decided to post. I look forward to making it soon and posting photographs of the finished cake.
Here's a clip that I found with the French recipe for Pouding au Chomeur, and the version of the recipe that I like the best.

I've see the recipe for individual servings in Ramekins but I like this version in a 9"X 13" dish for a crowd.

Pouding au Chomeur was created by female factory workers during the Great Depression in Quebec, Canada. It means Unemployment or Poor Man's Pudding.
It's traditionally made during the winter months when Maple Syrup is collected and processed to make syrup. It's a cake batter onto which a hot maple syrup sauce is poured prior to baking.

1/2 C  (1 stick) butter, softened
1 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 C whole milk
1 1/2 C pure maple syrup
1 1/2 C heavy cream
1/3 C butter (just over 5 TBS)

Cake:

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment:
Cream butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla and incorporate well.

In another bowl:
whisk together flour and baking powder.

Alternately incorporate the flour mixture and the whole milk into the butter/sugar mixture and mix well.

Pour into a prepared  9"X13" pan. (I brush mine with my Pan Release Mixture:( equal parts of Crisco, Vegetable Oil and Flour) I start with 1 C of each mixed well and refrigerated in a jar. I always have it available for all of my baking needs. I use a pastry brush and coat it well.

In a saucepan:
maple Syrup
brown sugar
heavy cream
butter
Bring to a boil, constantly stirring.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce reduces a little.

Pour the sauce evenly over the cake batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Baked Artichoke - Jalapeno Parmesan Dip / Ellise Pierce

Baked Artichoke - Jalapeño Parmesan Dip / Ellise Pierce

I was checking out some of my favorite blogs this morning and I love to keep in touch with a fellow Texan, fellow Francophile and friend, Ellise Pierce. She is the author of Cowgirl Chef, Texas Cooking with a French Accent. If you haven't gotten a copy of her cookbook, I highly recommend it. I refer to Ellise as my "friend".  Have you ever met someone for the first time and you feel a kindred spirit? That's how I felt when I first met her. I took a cooking class from Ellise and immediately felt that I had known her all my life. We share our Texas roots and our love of France. Anne and I met her in Paris on one of our vacations there.  I love everything she cooks and I like the way she teaches cooking! We keep in touch and she has published one of my recipes in her column. Ellise, Merci pour tout ce que tu fait dans la cuisine!
A la prochaine classe!


I love this recipe!
Ellise talks about her love for rustic and vintage cookware. You know, those vintage bowls and bakeware that your grandmother and great grandmother mixed recipes in and baked in? Those well used pieces of bakeware that you find in French Flea Markets? Well, I have the same passion. My latest is baking in a Bram and I will bake this recipe in my Bram.

Baked Artichoke-Jalapeno Parmesan Dip
INGREDIENTS

1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained
4 cloves garlic
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup plain or Greek yogurt
10-12 sliced jalapenos (pickled)
10 sundried tomatoes
¼ teaspoon sea salt (to taste)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

WHAT YOU DO

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a food processor, puree the garlic until finely chopped. Add sun dried tomatoes and pulse until finely chopped. Add artichoke hearts and jalapeno peppers and pulse one or two times, making sure not to puree the artichoke hearts or peppers. You want this to be chunky.

In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, Parmesan cheese, sea salt, and cayenne pepper.

 Fold the artichoke-pepper mixture into the bowl, mix well and pour into a baking dish. 

Sprinkle more grated Parmesan on top.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until heated through and cheese on top starts to brown.

Serve with toasted pita chips, or crispy bread – and champagne!

this is my Bram, it's one of my favorite baking dishes

Enjoy!

Peace in the Kitchen!

Elias Brother's Big Boy , Original Strawberry Pie Recipe

Wow, what a flashback to the 60's. I grew up in Michigan. I lived in Drayton Plains and went to Waterford Kettering High School.

Detroit was known for cars and the famous Woodward Avenue. In 1967 I was a Junior in High School and I had a "hot" car. It was a 1967 Camaro and I cruised Woodward Avenue with my friends on Friday night.

The Elias Brother's Big Boy on Telegraph Road was the hangout. We would start at the Big Boy on T and cruise in our hot cars. We'd end up back at the Big Boy for Burger's and Fries and Strawberry Pie. What an incredible memory.

Elias Brother's Big Boy, Strawberry Pie:


Crust:

1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 TBS sugar
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 TBS whole milk

Mix together all ingredients in a pie pan, press out evenly and bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.

Filling:

1 quart of fresh Strawberries, clean and halved
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 C water
2 TBS light corn syrup
3 TBS corn starch

In a saucepan :
sugar
water
corn syrup
corn starch
Cook until thick

Add 3 - 4 drops of red food coloring and 4 TBS of Strawberry Jello.
Cool
Add Strawberries
Heap into pie shell
Chill completely

Serve with Whipped Cream!

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Oven Roasted Asparagus with a Dijon Mustard Sauce

This is a simple way to enjoy fresh asparagus.
We learned to eat asparagus and hard boiled eggs for the first time at our friends house in the South of France. I've included my recipe for a sauce that we love. France was the first place I had ever seen asparagus growing and I have an asparagus plant in my garden.
I buy a bag of fresh asparagus and lay it in a single layer in a large roasting pan.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and any type of garlic seasoning blend.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the asparagus for 15 minutes.
Cool on the sheet pan  before serving.

I serve the asparagus with Hard boiled eggs and a Dijon Mustard Sauce.
In a small bowl:
1/2 C Mayonnaise
2 TBS Dijon Mustard
2 TBS Water
1 TBS Red Wine Vinegar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of black pepper
Mix well and serve

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Fruit Bars with Granola Crumble

Who doesn't love a Fruit Crumble Bar. They always seem to show up at a neighborhood gathering, a picnic, a church bake sale and of course at a Christmas cookie exchange. I love them year round!
Our former next door neighbor moved a few blocks away and every month she puts a copy of a magazine she subscribes to in my mailbox. Thank you to my friend Jan for providing me with inspirational recipes for my blog.  Today I saw a recipe from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, for these Fruit Bars. There's nothing special about them, except that they have Granola in the Crumble and that alone was appealing enough for this Hippy in the Kitchen to adapt it and post it here.

Fruit Crumble Bars with Granola:

2 sticks of butter, room temperature
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 C Granola, I Granola from Ikea. ( photograph to follow)
1 1/2 C of your favorite fruit preserves. I use a 13 oz. jar of Bonne Maman, here are some of the varieties:
Raspberry
Apricot
Blackberry
Strawberry
Cherry
Fig
Peach
Field Blueberry
Mandarin

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment:
Cream butter and sugar until well combined
Add almond extract and mix well

In a separate bowl:
Sift flour and salt together and gradually incorporate it into the butter, mixing until it just begins to form a dough ball.

Remove the dough and divide it into thirds.

Lightly press 2/3 of the dough into a 9" square baking pan, including 1/2" up the sides.
Evenly spread the jam over the dough leaving a 1/2" border.

In a small bowl, combine granola and remaining 1/3 of the dough, mixing it with your hands to create a crumble.
Scatter the crumble evenly over the jam.
Sprinkle with slivered almonds
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Food, a Poem by The Hippy in the Kitchen!

Food is what I talk about most. I guess I have to as a Food Blogging host.
I like Corn and Squash and Desserts galore. I can always find a topic and talk about more.
I'm passionate about the things that I cook. You can check out my blog and take a look.
Search a Food category or a Spice you prefer ,
A Vegetable, a Fruit or a Casserole you can stir.
Read a recipe and print it,
and make it with care.
Return to the blog to find something to share. 
Always remember if you can't make a decision,
You can always rely on A Hippy in the kitchen!
And don't forget the motto I'm always pitchin',
You will find happiness when you Enjoy! 
Peace in the Kitchen!

Strawberry Ice Box Dessert and Strawberry Ice Box Pie

We're all looking forward to warmer weather, spring and summer. I have great memories of summer growing up in Michigan. Some of my favorite memories include activities that involved food. Maybe that's part of why I've chosen to write a Food Blog.
Many of those memories started at my Grandmother's house and my Aunt Faye's farm.
Summer always included fruit in Michigan. I remember having Strawberry Shortcake at every summertime event at my grandmother's house. We had picnics in her backyard on rickety old wooden picnic tables. My fondest memories are of my grandmother's Potato Salad and Strawberry Shortcake.
I recently saw an episode of Trisha Yearwood and she made an interesting Strawberry Shortcake recipe. I had never seen the biscuit made in an 8" cake pan, but I'll make it this summer. My Grandmother's Strawberry Shortcake was always made with small individual home made biscuits, macerated strawberries and home made whipped cream. It was the classic strawberry shortcake.
I began researching variations of the iconic American summer dessert and came across a multitude of recipes for Strawberry Ice Box Cake. The recipe has been around for many years.
I looked at them all, I took something different from all of them and created this recipe. I look forward to spring and summer and making this dessert. I think it will be our Easter dessert.


Strawberry Ice Box Dessert:


1 pound of strawberries, stems trimmed. ( use a plastic straw to remove the stems. Push the stem out with the straw) I do this if I have a lot of strawberries to prepare.
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 (3.4 oz.) box of  Instant  Cheesecake Pudding Mix
2 C whole milk
1 pint of heavy cream
5 TBS of sifted confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C strawberry jam, slightly heated , just to melt and set aside.
24 graham crackers
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips


Thinly slice 3 of the strawberries and set aside.
Slice the remaining strawberries and put them in a bowl.
Sprinkle them with the granulated sugar.
Mix well and set aside until they soak up the sugar and release their juice.
Mash them with a potato masher, leaving some chunky pieces.

Make Pudding with the milk, according to package directions, refrigerate

In a chilled bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment: beat heavy cream, confectioner's sugar and vanilla until a stiff texture is achieved. Watch it carefully, it can firm up quickly.
Reserve 2 TBS  and set aside.
Gently fold in the strawberry jam, by hand, into the bowl of whipped cream.
Refrigerate.
Once the pudding is thickened and set, gently fold in the  strawberry whipped cream, by hand.
 and set aside.

Spread a thin layer of the whipped cream  in a  9"X13" glass pan.
Cover the bottom with a single layer of graham crackers.
Cover the crackers with some whipped cream.
Top with a layer of the strawberries.
Repeat with whipped cream, crackers, whipped cream and strawberries.
Continue layering, ending with whipped cream.
Garnish the top with the 3 reserved sliced strawberries.

In a microwavable glass bowl or Pyrex measuring cup, melt the chocolate chips until smooth and cool slightly.
Mix in the reserved 2 TBS of strawberry whipped cream, until  completely incorporated.
Drizzle the chocolate over the entire cake with a fork.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!



Strawberry Ice Box Pie:

Here's what you'll need:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1 - Well Buttered 10" Pie Pan

2 C Crushed Pretzels
12 TBS Butter, melted
1/4 C Brown Sugar
2 C Sliced Strawberries
1 - 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk
4 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
4 TBS + 1 tsp  (1/2 of a 3oz. Box) Strawberry Jello
2 C Heavy Cream, divided
1/3 C Granulated Sugar

In a medium mixing bowl:
Pretzels
Butter
Brown Sugar
Mix well by hand.
Press into the bottom and up the sides of the Pie Pan.
Bake 10 - 12 minutes.
Remove the pan to a rack and cool 30 minutes.

In a Stand Mixer with a Whisk attachment:
Condensed Milk
Cream Cheese
Jello
Beat on low until just combined.
Transfer to a bowl.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer:
3/4 C Heavy Cream
Beat to Soft Peak.
Gently fold this into the Strawberry mixture by hand.
Pour into the crust.
Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 12 hours.

Beat remaining 1 1/4 C Heavy Cream until Soft Peak .
Add:
Sugar
Beat to Stiff Peak.
Spread evenly over the Pie. (you can get fancy if you want to)
Freeze for an additional hour before serving.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!