Rosemary, Walnut and Fleur de Sel Bread Rolls

Receiving my KitchenAid stand mixer in the mail was the closest thing to Christmas in the middle of the summer. I opened the package like an excited child and gazed at its beautiful light pink tint — it was just perfect.

I was looking forward to using the stand mixer for bread because one of the three attachments that comes standard with the mixer is a dough hook. The dough hook attachment is amazing for kneading dough, a part of bread-making that has traditionally been a point of frustration for home bakers.

This bread recipe was a little time-consuming, but the spectacular results made it well worthwhile. Because it is a basic recipe, it can be used in a myriad of ways. Try adding some cooked diced pancetta, some coarsely chopped olives, sundried tomatoes or some grated parmesan — the possibilities really are endless.

I flavored these rolls with generous amounts of chopped walnuts and fresh rosemary, then lightly brushed the rolls with olive oil right before baking them. The finishing touch was sprinkling them with a little fleur de sel.

Rosemary, Walnut and Fleur de Sel Bread Rolls
Click here for this recipe as well as other delicious Kitchen Aid sponsored treats!

Chocolate Banana Bread

I just came back from a few blissful days in New York City which always remind me of the time when I actually was a New Yorker. When I was living in New York (and was a student at the French Culinary Institute) I found myself a little overwhelmed by the city at times. The funny thing is that New York is actually a lot more brash and chaotic when you're visiting the city than when you live in it. I don't think I went to Times Square once when I lived in New York, and I got to appreciate the calm, often incredibly empty streets of the lower East side later in the evening and discover small neighborhoods you just don't have the time to go to when you're only in New York for a couple days. That being said though, what I thought I would love about New York was the one thing that pushed me away from it. New York is one of the only places in the world where you can find close to anything you want at almost anytime of the day - or night. That's especially true for food. I found myself missing the closed shops on Sundays in Paris and those times where the city really shuts up and you're forced to wait for things a little. New York was the beautiful, diverse city of the everything-available, and I realized that sometimes not having what you want when you want it is a precious thing in everyday life.

That being said, I think I will always have a long-distance love affair with New York - and that I did, for a few days at least. Memorable moments were a dinner at Mario Batali's Otto, where Oliver and I indulged in multiple antipasti dishes including grilled octopus, eggplant caponata and pesto caprese as well as one of the best goat cheese and caramelized onion pizzas I've ever had. The restaurant also bottles its own carbonated water and sells it for a reasonable restaurant price which is always a nice touch in my book. It's one those nice casual dining settings where you can over-order but still come out with a decently-priced bill which is not always that easy to do in NY!

I am now back in Montreal and wanted to welcome the new year with this recipe for Banana Bread. This is the Baked bakery recipe for banana chocolate muffins which I now make mostly use for banana loafs. I catch myself secretly coming up with devices for Oliver not to remember about the bananas we just bought at the market. The truth is, bananas take a while to be very, very ripe. In my experience, the best banana loafs - the really moist ones you can't stop eating - are made with incredibly mushy bananas. Even when the skin of bananas are completely brown, the banana inside is sometimes still not completely mushy. And, as much as I hate the word 'mushy' in the food-world, mushy is really the key to banana bread. The mushier the banana the more sweet it is, hence the better the loaf - you get the point!

Chocolate Banana Bread
Serves 8

1 1/2 cups of mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium-sized bananas)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup of whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon of strong espresso
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
5 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, stir in the banana, sugars, butter, espresso, milk and egg.
In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the bowl and gently add in the banana mixture. Stir into just combined. Gently fold in the chocolate.

Fill a greased loaf pan with the batter and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out just clean. Enjoy!

Green Onion, Pancetta and Parmesan Rolls

So... I had promised myself I wouldn't do it and then I caved! The problem with me is that I've never really been a woman of measure and I tend to be pretty obsessed with things that I take a liking to. For those reasons, I had promised I wouldn't hop on the twitter train. After much restraint, I did, and I kind of love it. My only problem is that I sometimes have problems divulging and get twitter stage fright. Do people really care that I had the most flaky caramelized onion and roasted tomato tart last week? that I found a new bread that I can't live without? that my food magazine obsession is becoming a real design problem in my apartment? or that I've never been apple picking and that this year will be the year for homemade apple sauces/pies/tarts/compotes/jellies?

If you're on twitter, follow me here, I would love to keep up with all the food-lovers out there, and that seems like the perfect channel to do so!

And in the meantime, here is my new recipe for savory bread rolls/muffins. The combo of pancetta, green onions and cheese was perfect for the cooler fall weather coming our way. Give them a try, and let me know what you think!

Green Onion, Pancetta and Parmesan Rolls
Makes about 14 rolls

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 egg
3/4 cups of milk
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1 tbl of olive oil and extra to drizzle
4 green onions, finely sliced
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
4 ounces of pancetta, diced

Preheat your oven 400F.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, add the milk, cream, olive oil and vegetable oil. Beat in the egg. Once the mixture is homogenous, fold in the flour mixture until completely incorporated. Fold in the cheese, green onions and pancetta.

Place cupcake liners in a muffin pan. Add one ice cream scoop of batter into each and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Lightly drizzle the muffins with olive oil and place your oven on broil. Bake them for 2-3 minutes or until the rolls are just golden brown.

Tuna, Arugula and Apple Sandwiches

Tuna and apple might seem like an odd combination but it works wonderfully in sandwiches. The tuna is creamy, the apples are tangy and sweet and the arugula adds that peppery and lemony taste that makes all the flavors meld beautifully.

As the weather is slowly moving towards summery temperatures, I like to plan out great picnic food. There's just something about packing up delicious goods and enjoying them with friends or family outdoors. These sandwiches work perfectly for those kind of days. I like to make them mini sandwiches - they are less messy and allow you to make different sandwich combos to try. If it's really warm and you can't keep the sandwiches cool, I would suggest skipping the mayo and using a little more mustard instead. Serve it with a fresh salad (I like roasted red and yellow peppers with goat cheese crumbles) and a glass of homemade ice tea and you're set!

Tuna, Arugula and Apple Sandwiches (makes 4 mini sandwiches)
2 small cans of tuna packed in olive oil
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of grainy mustard
1 handful of arugula
1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced
4 mini ciabatta rolls
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Slice the ciabatta rolls lengthwise. Lightly drizzle with olive oil and toast for 3-4 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and crusty. Take off the heat and reserve. In a small bowl whisk the mayonnaise and grainy mustard and reserve.

In a bowl, add the tuna (drained from most of the oil). Using a fork, press down on the tuna to separate the chunks. Fold in 3/4 of the mayonnaise mixture and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Divide the tuna mixture and add it to each ciabatta half. Layer with a few slices of apple and top with arugula. Spread the mayonnaise on the other side of each piece of ciabatta. Close the sandwiches and enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

There's just something special about zucchini bread isn't there? It's savory but also sweet, and pretty hard to beat when it's just out of the oven. This recipe was given to me by one of my editors, and her recipe surely didn't disappoint! It's really easy to make and you'll have deliciously moist bread to snack on all week.

My weekend was filled with food adventures. From fried calamari at the farmer's market, to outdoor grilled pizza and olive oil vanilla cupcakes.. ending with zucchini bread. What more can one ask for?

Zucchini Bread (for 2 small loafs of bread)

1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of canola oil
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
3 cups of grated zucchini
3 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp of cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In big mixing bowl, add the sugars, oil, eggs, vanilla and zucchini. Mix. Add in the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon and whisk until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Grease two small loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Leave to cool on a cooling rack for a couple minutes, and serve. Enjoy!