Nanaimo Bars

I'm heading off to Boat Club this week for our monthly potluck, and for a change decided to make some Nanaimo Bars.   It's been a long time since I've made them, but they're always a hit when I do bring them somewhere and I think they'll be the same here.   I actually have some Bird's Custard Powder, which is one of the ingredients, plus of course, all the rest of the ingredients as well.  

I grew up some few miles south of Nanaimo , pronounced (NUH NY MO) and so I think I know whereof I speak when I say I make an authentic Nanaimo Bar.   Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry about  Nanaimo Bars    if you want to read more about them. 

I have the recipe my sister gave me for the bars, and just for fun also looked them up in a little cookbook I received from my sister the last time I was in Duncan.    It was published in 2003 by Drinkwater Elementary School, and was called 'Dive into Our Favourite Recipes'.  And guess what, it was identical to the one she gave me and that I've been using for years.    Personally, I love this kind of cookbook.  They contain recipes gathered from a wide variety of people, and are usually tried and true and family approved.  In fact, just between us, I'm going to be trying several more of their recipes, since they have ones I've never seen anywhere else.  

Nanaimo Bars Recipe

Base
1/2 cup Butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
5Tbsp. Cocoa Powder   (I used Hershey's Dark, it was what I had in my pantry)
1 tsp. Vanilla   (I used some Kahlua, I like the extra layers of flavour it gives)
1 egg

Set a pan over some boiling water, stir the above ingredients together until they resemble custard.
Then mix together with the following;
2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs
1 cup Coconut (sweetened)
1/2 cup chopped Walnuts

Press the mixture into a 9 x 9 inch pan, evenly.


Filling
1/4 cup butter
3 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. Vanilla Custard powder (I use Birds Custard Powder, but you can use instant vanilla pudding mix here).
2 cups Confectioners sugar
Cream the above ingredients together, spread them over the chocolate base.  Place in fridge for about 15 minutes or so to set up.

Topping
4 squares Bakers Semi-Sweet Baking chocolate (or use your favourite baking chocolate)
1 Tbsp. butter
Melt together and spread over the custard filling.

Pressing the base into a plastic wrap lined pan made it easy to get the bars out.

Easy to cut

Let sit for a  few minutes in the fridge for the chocolate to set up a little, then score it with a sharp knife into the sizes you want, this keeps the chocolate topping from breaking when you cut it to serve later on.    Place in fridge for a couple of hours, cut into pieces and serve. 

Oh yeah, I did say it was Boat Club potluck so here's a list of the other dishes served.   We had a lovely ham, deviled eggs, a wild rice chicken salad, some spicy beans and chocolate chip cookies along with the Nanaimo Bars.    

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Nanaimo Bars

Yield: 12 servings

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking -

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: -2 Mininactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 43 Min

Ingredients

Base

• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 5Tbsp. Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's Dark, it was what I had in my pantry)
• 1 tsp. Vanilla (I used some Kahlua, I like the extra layers of flavour it gives)
• 1 egg
• Set a pan over some boiling water, stir the above ingredients together until they resemble custard.
• Then mix together with the following;
• 2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs
• 1 cup Coconut (sweetened)
• 1/2 cup chopped Walnuts

Filling

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. Vanilla Custard powder (I use Birds Custard Powder, but you can use instant vanilla pudding mix here).
• 2 cups Confectioners sugar
• Cream the above ingredients together, spread them over the chocolate base. Place in fridge for about 15 minutes or so to set up.

Topping

• 4 squares (4 ounces) Baking chocolate
• 1 tbsp. Butter

Instructions

Base

1. Set a pan over some boiling water, stir the butter, confectioner sugar, egg and cocoa butter together until they resemble custard.  Then mix them with the graham cracker crumbs, coconut and chopped walnuts. Line a 9x9 inch pan with some plastic wrap, then press the base into the pan firmly.  This makes it easier to get the Nanaimo Bars out when you want to cut them up. 
2. Set aside while you mix the filling up. 

Filling

1. Cream together the 1/4 cup butter, vanilla custard powder (you can use instant vanilla pudding mix here if not using Bird's Custard Powder), the 2 cups Confectioner Sugar and Vanilla extract. 
2. Spread evenly over the base and place in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes to set up. 

Topping

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together and spread evenly over the filling. 

Completion

1. Let sit for a few minutes in the fridge for the chocolate to set up a little, then score it with a sharp knife into the sizes you want, this keeps the chocolate topping from breaking when you cut it to serve later on. Place in fridge for a couple of hours, cut into pieces and serve.

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Jambalaya

 When I visited Earth Fare last week with my friend, I picked up some of their Andouille Sausage, they make it fresh in the store, and that coupled with re-reading one of my favorite recipe books, made me hungry for  Jambalaya.   

So, I made some and was so busy trying to beat the clock, (I did say I was hungry), and get it on the table in a timely fashion I didn't get any pictures until the end when I served it.    But it was good, and hit the spot for both of us.  

Here's the recipe.

Yield: 4-6 ServingsAuthor: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Jambalaya

prep time: 10 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 40 mins

ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Butter and  olive oil (1 tablespoon of each)
1 lb. raw smoked ham, coarsely diced
1 lb. fresh chicken, cut into chunks
2 links Andouille Sausage, cut into rings
1 Green Pepper, cut into chunks
2 lg. Onion, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 2/3 cups  (2  17 oz. cans)  Tomatoes, diced or whole,
3 cups  chicken stock
1 bay leaf crushed
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. cayenne, or more to taste
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups long grain rice
1 lb. fresh shrimp, cooked, shelled and cleaned  (optional)

instructions:

Melt butter and olive oil, brown off the sausage and chicken, throw in the pepper, onion and garlic,  cook for a minute.  Stir well.   Add remaining ingredients except for the rice and shrimp, and bring to a boil.   Gradually stir in the rice.   Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.    Add the shrimp and let it heat through,  and more seasoning (cayenne) and serve.

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Messy Burgers

I think everyone has their favorite burger recipe, and for some people the fancier the better, and for others, it's more of a tried and true formula.   I like hamburgers, but don't usually care for them from restaurants. 

All too often the meat patty is a pre-formed frozen disk of meat flavored cardboard.   I like my burgers with a hand made patty, that's been barely handled and just patted into a rough burger shape.   They're juicier and much more flavourful than those frozen things.    I picked up some ground chuck the other day at Earth Fare, and it looked really good, they also told me it was ground fresh several times a day in-store.   Even though I had to take it home and freeze it, I still think I'm starting from a better point than those packaged 'chubs' of mass produced ground beef.  "shudder".

So I made my patties, and fried them on my cast iron pan,  (see the dimple in the middle of the patty, that helps it cook more evenly, just dimple it with your finger before putting it on to cook).

I would have grilled them, but at the moment don't have a barbeque grill, and when I do grill outside, I use my George Foreman grill anyway.
Sauteed an onion,

and some mushrooms for toppings,

grabbed some cooked bacon out of the freezer and warmed them on top of the mushrooms, and we were set.  I'd set out the mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise as well as some bar-be-que sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles already, so we were ready to eat. 
I also buttered and browned the buns on a frying pan, which was a hint I picked up from the Pioneer Woman a while back and it really added a nice layer of flavor to the burgers.

 

So, pardon me but my burger is ready to eat and I'm hungry.     The meat patty is layered with some cheese, onions, mushrooms, tomato and more onions, a little bbq sauce, mustard and mayo.    And it was good and messy.  Easily a three napkin burger, the best kind

Open Face sandwiches

I just had the best lunch today, for a Dane who's been craving some of her comfort foods, that is.     I took a trip to the 'Big City' yesterday with a friend and we checked out a food store that was new to both of us.   It's called Earth Fare and I got a little carried away in there.   Actually in retrospect, I really, really, really restrained myself.   Of course that's because I knew I had a pretty full fridge at home to begin with. 
This store has a lot of locally sourced organic fruits and vegetables, and quite frankly some of the best looking produce I've seen in a long time. 

However to get back to my lunch.
They actually had some Tilsit Cheese and some wonderful Mushroom and Pork Pate.   So I took my Lurpak butter out of the fridge, put a nice thin layer on some of the last of the Rye Bread I had, and then added my Pate to one slice and the Tilsit to the other, and had a wonderful lunch.    The only thing that could have made the meal better would have been to have a nice Sild and some Snaps and a beer.  But I still have to do some work today, so I couldn't indulge myself that way.  

I will be going back there the next time I'm in the big city.    I was able to find some reasonably priced beef there as well, all antibiotic free.   I also picked up some Irish Banger Sausages that I'm going to cook for breakfast or dinner tomorrow,  if they end up as dinner, then I'll make some mashed potato's so we can have Bangers and Mash for dinner.   I also picked up some Andouille, Chorizo and Italian sausage that await their turn for dinner either as part of a whole or by themselves.   I think I see some lovely Jambalaya in our future, and a nice Lasagna and can't forget the Chorizo, which will also make a wonderful breakfast, with some fluffy scrambled eggs, and salsa tucked into a nice flour tortilla.    Gee, I think I'm getting inspired here, at any rate, I'll let you know what else I come up with. 

Chicken enchilada casserole

I was craving something hot and spicy, and usually when I do that, I make something Mexican.   I wanted to make some Chile Relleno's but Chicken Enchilada's also sounded good, and then inspiration struck.  Well, kinda.   I wanted to make a one dish meal, something that didn't require a lot of effort, but would not only look good, but more importantly,  taste good.    So, here's what I made.
 

Chicken Enchilada Casserole