Food Mamma

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food mamma is one! chocolate layered birthday cake

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Food Mamma is ONE!  Wow, a whole year has gone by since my first post.  As much as I loved the idea of a food blog, I wondered if I would be able to maintain it, and come up with different things to make and post about.  Turns out, content wasn’t an issue. Finding time to post the content, well that’s another story.

I am inspired daily by all the wonderful blogs that I read.  They influence this blog and make me want to inspire others.  Thanks to everyone for stopping by and for your comments. 

I thought it would be fitting today to post the amazing cake my mom made for my birthday this year.  Q requested chocolate so mom happily obliged.  Four layers of chocolately goodness separated by a mocha whipped cream icing.  The rich cake with the light icing made it a perfect pairing. Delicious!

Four Layered Chocolate Cake
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2/3 cup milk

Mix the first three ingredients and keep aside.

Mix the dry ingredients and keep aside.

Beat the butter, margarine, sugar, vanilla, eggs and milk.  Add the dry ingredients and mix well.  Add the chocolate mixture to this and mix again.  Pour batter into 2 round cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.  Once the cakes have cooled, cut each layer in half so that you have four layers.  Frost all layers with the icing.

Icing
3 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
pinch salt
2 tsp instant coffee Beat all the ingredients together until the whipping cream comes together.

stop toast brutality

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Today is National Toast Day.  For every person who goes onto: http://www.facebook.com/gayleafoods on March 23rd and signs the petition to “Stop Toast Brutality” Gay Lea will donate a tub of Spreadables butter to the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank.

“Hunger is an issue affecting many people across Canada. National Toast Day sets the stage for Gay Lea and the community to come together and help Canadians in a fun and interactive way,” says Carol Johnston, director of marketing at Gay Lea Foods.

Click here to sign the petition.

carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing: happy birthday dad!

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Today is my dad’s birthday.  There are many words to describe this amazing man – wonderful, giving, selfless, loving.

When Q turned one and I went back to work, I was lucky to have my dad take care of my son.  While many had to worry about who was taking care of their children, I had reassurance that Q was in good hands.  Not many grandfathers would take on the task of looking after a toddler, let alone changing diapers!  Even now that I am home trying to start up a business, my dad takes care of Q for a few hours a day.  I am so grateful to my dad, I don’t know what I would do without him. His day definitely needs to be celebrated.

Since we had lots of chocolate cake on the weekend, I called my aunt for her amazing carrot cake recipe.  This was a really easy cake to make, with everything blended in a food processor.  Nuts are optional but I chose to add walnuts which added the perfect crunch to the moist cakes.

Carrot Cake

2 cups carrots, grated
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1.5 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Grate the carrots in a food processor.  Add oil and eggs and blitz until combined.  Add sugar and blitz again.  Add the dry ingredients and blitz until combined.  Gently stir in the nuts.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 block cream cheese
1 stick butter
3/4 cup icing sugar

Beat until combined.

Navroz Mubarak (Happy New Year)!

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March 21st marks the Persian New Year, Navroz (Nowruz). It is a festival celebrated in many Muslim communities and cultures.  Dried fruits, nuts and grains are distributed symbolising blessings of abundance and sustainance.*

We wish everyone a very happy New Year filled with peace, happiness and lots of love.

~SFQ

* Wheat – strength, Sweet – happiness,love and affection, dried fruit – long life, raising – good health, nuts – intelligence, mint – curing disease, cloves – pleasure of life.

chocolate pot de creme with nutella whip

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I love March.  It’s a month of many birthdays.  My dad’s, my father-in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends …and mine.  As much as I hate getting older, I do take the time to celebrate my big day.  Actually, I celebrate the week!  I have a whole lot of pampering lined up – massage, facial, mani, pedi, hair – it’s going to be a great week. 

March for me is about indulgence.  We had friends over recently and indulged in this chocolate cream pot.  A creamy chocolate pudding with nutella whipping cream.  It’s so easy to make.  The hard part is letting it refrigerate for a few hours.  Definitely worth the wait.

Chocolate Pots de Creme with Nutella Whip
Adapted from Claire Robinson’s 5 Ingredient Fix

4 oz chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tsp sugar
1 TB nutellaPreheat the oven to 325 degrees. Put the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl.  Heat the cream and sugar in a saucepan over low heat.  Whisk until sugar is dissolved.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and smooth.  Put the yolks in a small bowl; while whisking, add a small amount of the warm chocolate mixture to temper the yolks.  Whisk the yolk mixture into the chocolate until well combined.  Pour into a large baking dish and place it into a high-sided baking dish.  You can use 4 ramekins instead of one large dish if you prefer.  Fill the pan with boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the chocolate-filled bowl and transfer to the oven.  Bake until the custard is set but slightly jiggly, about 45 minutes.  When the custard is at room temperature, refrigerate for a few hours.

Whip the remaining cream with the sugar until firm peak form.  Add the nutella and whip for a bit more.  Serve the cooled custard topped with the whip.

ruth’s chris steakhouse

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To celebrate Valentine’s Day, hubby and I chose to have dinner at Ruth’s Chris.  We had been to one Ruth’s Chris in Vegas a couple of years ago but we hadn’t tried the Calgary location.  We had heard such a range of reviews, we just had to check it out for ourselves.

For Valentine’s Day, Ruth’s Chris was offering up their date night menu – an appetizer to share, an entree each, a dessert to share and wine for $99.  It was a good thing we had reservations because the place was busy!  The restaurant, located in the Tower Centre, was on the 2nd floor and had a good view of downtown. Ruth’s Chris provided parking in the Tower Centre.

To start, we settled on the mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat.  There were four mushrooms and the crab stuffing was pretty good.  We were also served garlic bread and cheese bread, both of which were delicious and we had inhaled them long before our steaks arrived.

For our mains, I ordered the 8 oz petit filet and hubby ordered the 12 oz new york strip.  The steaks came sizzling to the table in butter, how could that not be good! The petit filet was perfect if you were looking for meat that was soft and melted in your mouth.  For flavour, the new york strip was the way to go.  By ordering one of each, we had the best of both worlds.

We were able to order two sides to go along with our meals.  We ordered the sauteed mushrooms and the mashed potatoes.  Unfortunately, the sides were bland and disappointing.  The mushrooms tasted like they were straight from a can.

To finish off our meal, we chose the creme brulee.  Creme brulee is one of those desserts that we order every chance we get.  This was one of the best brulees we have had!  The sugar topping was light and delicate and the custard was creamy.

All in all, we enjoyed our meal.  Except for the sides, the food was good.  The service, which is a huge factor for me, was really good.  Our waiter was very attentive and even the manager came to every table to ensure that everything was going well.  We will definitely go back for the steak!

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse on Urbanspoon

seared scallops and prawns with scrambled eggs

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It’s been a long week and as tempting as it was to grab take out, I had to resist.  We had a busy weekend ahead and I knew we would be eating out.  I decided it was time to start cleaning out my freezer.  With a wedding in the family coming up in the summer, I had a feeling we would need some space in there.  I was happy to find some scallops and jumbo prawns but couldn’t think of any side to make with it.  We had finished most of our produce and rice just didn’t appeal to me.  Rummaging through the fridge, I did notice that we had an abundance of eggs and spinach….scrambled eggs, why not? 

After making the seafood, I felt that it really needed some kind of sauce.  The lemon butter sauce I threw together with garlic was just the right flavours needed to top off the scallops and prawns.

The combination was perfect!  Comfort and decadence on one plate.

Seared Scallops and Prawns

6 sea scallops
6 jumbo prawns
olive oil
salt
pepper

2 TB butter
2 TB lemon juice
1 garlic clove

Pat the seafood dry and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a hot pan and sear until cooked.  Once seafood has been removed from the pan, add the butter, lemon juice and garlic.  Pour sauce over seafood and enjoy.

easy scones

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When I need whipping cream for a recipe, I can’t help but buy the large 1L size, even if I just need a cup.  It just makes economical sense.  I know, I need help.  That means that as the best before date approaches, I’m scrambling trying to find something to make with the whipping cream.  I was happy when Julie posted this easy scone recipe that uses whipping cream instead of butter!  In five minutes, the batter was mixed and dropped onto cookie sheets.  The warm scones were perfect with homemade blueberrry jam.  They were so good, they didn’t last very long.

The recipe can be found at the Family Kitchen.  Thanks Julie!

remembering geneva – pain au chocolat aux amandes

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Hard to believe it’s almost been 2 years since our last visit to Geneva.  My sister worked there for a few years and it’s been one of my favorite places to visit.  The history, the lake, the chocolate, and of course, the food!  The one thing that stands out, besides all the chocolate, is the pain au chocolat aux amandes.  The day that we left for our swiss train ride, my sister ran to a nearby bakery and surprised us with these goodies.  Croissants filled with almonds and chocolate, sinfully delicious!  I’ve been addicted to these ever since.  She has even brought them over on a few of her visits.

I’ve been thinking about these lately and just had to have one.  We have some great bakeries in Calgary where one can easily find pain au chocolat or an almond croissant.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find one that sold the combination.  I figured I would try my hand at it, a perfect project when cooped up at home with a cold.

When searching for recipes, most called for marzipan as the filling for the almond croissant.  Not willing to leave my house, I threw a few things together to make an almond paste.  To make things a little easier, I pulled out one of my favorite ingredients from the freezer – puff pastry!  Come to any party of mine and you will be sure to find something made with this buttery dough.

The result was a wonderful substitution for the croissant from Geneva.  A flaky buttery crust filled with chocolate and a subtle hint of almonds. A delicious but dangerous snack to have around.

Pain au Chocolat aux Amandes

1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 TB softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 TB flour

puff pastry
chocolate chips
egg whites, for egg wash
sliced almonds, for topping
icing sugar, for dusting

Combine the first six ingredients to make a paste.  Roll out the puff pastry and cut into rectangles, approximately 8 rectangles per sheet.  Spread almond paste on each rectangle.  At the edge of each rectangle, put a line of chocolate chips, roll over once and add another row of chocolate.  Roll the puff pastry to the end and place on parchment paper, seam side down.  Brush the tops of rolled pastries with egg wash and sprinkle with sliced almonds.  Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 40 minutes.  Dust each with icing sugar.