I had three organic, fair-trade bananas languishing on my counter, so decided to combine those with some mini chocolate chips and make muffins.

This was the result.

My experiment paid off! These are great – not too sweet, a bit of chocolate and a great banana flavour. Not to mention some fiber from the oat bran, and not too crazy on the fat content with only 1/3 cup of oil in there.

But hey, my goal ultimately was a good tasting muffin and I think I hit the target on that one. If you make these, let me know how they turn out and if you like them!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Vegan and Gluten-free!

1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1 cup oat bran (if you’re super gluten sensitive, make sure you buy certified gluten-free oat bran)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 medium, ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup vegan mini chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life brand)

Preheat oven to 375^oC. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.

Mix the mashed bananas, oil, brown sugar and apple sauce in a large bowl until well combined.

In a second bowl, whisk together the flours, starch, oat bran, salt and baking powder. Once mixed, dump the contents into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir to combine.

Add in the chocolate chips and stir until chips are well distributed through the batter.

Fill muffin cups full – with my tins I had exactly enough batter to fill the tins and none left over.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the centre of one muffin comes out clean. If your oven doesn’t heat very evenly (like mine!) you’ll want to turn the tin around 180^o after 15 minutes, to make sure the muffins cook evenly.

Eat fresh out of the oven. If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container; they’ll keep for a few days.

What exactly was I thinking? I was seriously missing out!

Sadie’s is a fantastic vegetarian and vegan diner located at Adelaide and Portland in downtown Toronto (just south of Queen and Bathurst). They do an all day breakfast along with simple lunch items (soups, salads, sandwiches, etc), smoothies, juices, coffee and (of course!) dessert.

These photos are from our first visit. We both ordered Huevos Rancheros; Rich got the traditional with real eggs and cheese, and I got the vegan option with scrambled tofu and vegan cheese. Since these photos were taken they’ve switched to using Daiya cheese in their vegan options, which I heartily approve of. The vegan option is also gluten-free, as far as I am aware.

We’ve been back a few times since. On our last visit we both ordered tofu scramble, which is essentially a ‘traditional’ breakfast done vegan style: toast, tofu scramble, veggie bacon or veggie sausage, homefries and coffee. We both ordered sausage and found that they deep fry it (or at least they seem to!), which makes it even more delicious than when we cook similar fake sausage at home. Not the most gluten-free breakfast, admittedly, but really good and a nice occasional treat.

My only real complaint about Sadie’s is the coffee (fair trade and organic) could be a bit stronger. But in true diner style, refills are free, and their mugs are huge. So I’m not really complaining all that loudly.

I hear the desserts (especially the vegan cupcakes) are awesome, but I’ve always been too full from the rest of my meal to try one.

You should go. Even if you aren’t vegan or vegetarian, you should go.

Sadie’s Diner, 504 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, (416) 777-2343. Meals for two with coffee, $20.

See, I’ve been battling some allergy-related issues for a while now, and have been put on a special diet. What kind of special diet, you ask? Oh, just a gluten-free-vegan-except-for-non-cows-milk diet! So that means no eggs, no cow’s milk dairy, and absolutely no gluten. Vegan I can do pretty easily, but the gluten-free part has been challenging. And I have a minimum of two months left eating like this.

So I’ve spent the last month re-learning where I can safely eat in Toronto and what kind of things I can bake. Even the simple task of grocery shopping has been a challenge. You have no idea how much hidden gluten is in things until you’re not allowed to eat it anymore.

On the first day I had to go gluten-free, I tried making buckwheat pancakes, figuring that if I could at least get a decent breakfast into me, the rest of the day wouldn’t be so bad. Poking around with google produced a recipe by one of the authors of Veganomicon and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, two of my favourite cookbooks. So I figured it would be delicious. And, well, judge for yourself:

Don’t those look yummy? The ‘butter’ is actually Earth Balance, and of course that’s a ton of good old Canadian maple syrup slathered on there. I modified the recipe slightly based on what ingredients I had in the house, and was really pleased with the results. I’ve since made them three times, and have added blueberries to the batter as well as making them plain. They’re good either way.

Gluten Free Buckwheat Pancakes
Makes 8 five inch pancakes, so you might want to double the recipe
Recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz, slightly modified by me

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup corn flour (NOT cornmeal, corn flour is lighter)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup vanilla or plain soymilk
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre, then add in the wet ingredients. Use a fork to combine all the ingredients well. Preheat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat, and let the batter rest for a few minutes.

When the pan is hot, oil it (or use cooking spray) and scoop your batter with a ladle or ice cream scoop to form pancakes. Do as many as you can fit into the pan comfortably – my pan fits three at a time. Cook about 2 1/2 or 3 minutes, or until a few air bubbles have formed on the surface of  the pancakes; don’t worry if it’s not as many bubbles as you’re used to with ‘regular’ pancakes.  Flip pancakes and cook for another 2 minutes or so, until golden brown. Keep warm on a covered plate (or in your oven, like I do) until ready to serve.

Serve with Earth Balance and lots of maple syrup.

I actually have a ton more posts planned, some gluten-free, some not (stuff I’d planned to post about before this new diet took over my kitchen!). Stay tuned!

One of the things I always do when I move to a new place is test out the oven. I know, that sounds like something obvious to do, but I’m always curious to see how the oven measures up as compared to previous apartments. Will it have a nice even heat? Will it have a decent broiler? What quirks will it have?

This time around, the quirk is the size of the stove/oven:

It might be hard to tell from the photo without another oven right beside it to compare, but ours is smaller than a ‘normal’ sized one. My large cookie sheet just barely fits into it, and you wouldn’t be able to place two round 8″ or 9″ cake pans side-by-side in there. When I first realized the oven was tiny, I was a bit worried it would be a problem; after all, I probably spend about 50% of my ‘hobby’ time in the kitchen! But so far the oven has served me very well. It heats quickly and pretty evenly, and much more accurately than my stove at our previous place. So far we’ve made a few different things in it, including cookies and muffins. I also have a loaf of bread in there right now.

The muffins I made in an attempt to have some quick, healthy snack food to take with me to work. They’d also make a tasty breakfast, if I do say so myself.

Oatmeal Raisin Spice Muffins – original recipe by Daily Decadent, modified by me

* 1 cup vanilla soy milk
* 1 cup quick-cook oats (not instant)
* 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* pinch of salt
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon of vanilla
* 1 egg, beaten
* 2 tablespoons of butter, softened
* 1 cup raisins
* boiling water to ‘plump’ raisins

Place raisins in a heat-safe bowl and pour boiling water over top, just enough to cover. Set aside to allow the raisins to plump up. This step can be done the night before if you wish.

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease or line with paper a 12 muffin tin.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine oats and soymilk. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Then whisk in the brown sugar.

Once the raisins are looking nice and plump, drain off the water and add the raisins to the oat mixture along with the butter, vanilla and beaten egg. Stir to combine.

Place batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.

Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Yesterday I was finishing up at the office at 8:30pm, and was trying to decide if I wanted to run to the grocery store before going home. I had been thinking about getting some apples so I could make more baked oatmeal, but one step outside of my office door made me realize it was not to be. It was cold and windy, and frankly I just wanted to go home and make some dinner! However, the craving for baked oatmeal didn’t go away, and so after my run this morning I decided to rummage through my fridge and freezer to see if I had something else that might work. That’s when I spotted the blueberries, and so Blueberry Pie Baked Oatmeal was born.

Ok, let’s be honest here – it’s not that much like blueberry pie. It’s far less sweet, and healthier, but I think that makes it better for breakfast food. But it’s also really yummy, and worth trying if you like blueberries, or are like me and too lazy to go to the store for apples for your baked oatmeal!

Blueberry Pie Baked Oatmeal
Adapted from this recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1 cup large flake oatmeal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup frozen blueberries (defrosted)
1.5 cups vanilla soymilk (or milk of your choice)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Grease a small casserole dish (I used a loaf pan), then put in the oatmeal mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until heated through and all the liquid is absorbed.

Serve with extra honey, yogurt or soymilk as desired. Try not to eat the entire pan in one sitting. Makes two generous servings, although you might like it so much you won’t want to share.

For now, here’s a quick shot of our Christmas morning breakfast: Grand Marnier French Toast made with cinnamon raisin bread, which Rich whipped up for us.  We nabbed the recipe from here, but apparently it was originally published in Bon Appetit.  I’ve also posted it below.

Grand Marnier French Toast *

Eight 3/4 inch thick slices of French Bread ** we used thick slices of cinnamon raisin bread, which was really delicious.
4 large eggs
3/4 cup Half & Half ** we used plain soymilk, it worked great
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Grand Marnier orange flavored liqueur
4 tablespoons butter

Whisk together the eggs, half and half, Grand marnier, sugar, grated orange peel and vanilla extract. Dip the bread slices into this mixture and place into a large baking dish (13×9). Pour the remaining mixture over the bread in the baking dish and let stand for twenty minutes.

Melt the two tablespoons of butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add bread slices and cook until brown and cooked through. Add butter to skillet as needed to cook remaining bread.  To keep cooked slices warm until serving, place on a baking sheet in the oven on low heat.

Serve with powdered sugar and warm maple syrup.

This dish can be prepared a day ahead of time, covered and refrigerated. Take out of refrigerator at least 1/2 hour prior to cooking.

* The original recipe noted that thawed frozen orange juice concentrate can be substituted for Grand Marnier. But honestly, use the Grand Marnier if you can. It’s much more tasty!

Happy Holidays!

Baker Street Cafe opened earlier this year in what used to be an Irish pub called Annie’s. They seem to be pretty popular for breakfasts and claim they have been given a ‘Best Breakfast in Ottawa’ award. Before we went here, I’d heard they were a place to go if you wanted down to earth, honest and wholesome food.

Sounds pretty good, right? Well, maybe not.

The first problem we noticed when we came in was the fact that the place still really looks like a pub. The lighting inside is poorly done, so that unless you’re right at the window (where it is too bright on a sunny day) you’ll feel like you’re in a dark and dingy place. They’ve also painted one entire wall with chalkboard paint, which is good for functionality (they can write all the daily specials and such on it) but not so good for reflecting light and giving some warmth to the place. Rich commented that it felt like having breakfast at The Dom.

We also noticed the floors were pretty dirty. Now, I’m not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination, but when Rich reached down to adjust the coasters propping up one end of our table (which was another problem in and of itself) he noticed some old french fries and other bits of food under the table. Yuck. Needless to say, we switched to a booth shortly after.

We also had a bit of a problem getting our server’s attention. She seemed to be pre-occupied with something else, and while other tables were offered coffee refills with good frequency, we only got one near the very beginning of our meal. We weren’t the only table with that problem; another table had ordered drinks that never arrived. It wasn’t unfriendly service at all, just inconsistent.

All of that said, here’s the thing: The food really is good. I had eggs florentine, which was delicious. The eggs were perfectly poached, the sauce was a good consistency, and the accompanying roast potatoes and fruit were delicious. Rich had their cinnamon raisin French toast, which came with sausages or bacon (he chose sausages) and fresh fruit. He said the French toast was delicious, but he was a bit surprised at the fact that their sausage is the large ‘banger’ variety rather than breakfast links, which are what one would expect with breakfast. Even so, the sausage was tasty, just unexpected.

While food quality was good, we found food quantity was a bit much. We know people like to have the best ‘bang for their buck’ but honestly, there was too much food on our plates. We both felt overly full when we left, and neither of us cleaned our plates. So if you’re going to head here for breakfast, I suggest you go very hungry, or share plates with someone else.

Would we go again? Probably not. I think I’d order take-out if possible, but I found the place a bit too dark and dingy to want to sit and have breakfast there again.

Baker Street Cafe, 385 Richmond Road, 613-729-8807. Breakfast for one with coffee, $10-$15.

Batter Be Good To Me

Originally uploaded by nyxie.

So as you may recall, last month I made a grilled salmon and strawberry dish for the foodtv.ca cooking club. This month’s recipe is a bit less adventurous: pancakes. We already have a good pancake recipe in our household, but I decided to give these a try anyway. Besides, they’re from the book Eat, Shrink and Be Merry, which I’d heard about for ages as a good resource for delicious, healthy recipes.

The recipe had two components: the pancakes themselves, which contained fresh blueberries, and a strawberry-orange sauce. We picked up local blueberries and strawberries from a vendor in the Byward Market on Saturday, just so we could make these pancakes.

The verdict? The pancakes were very good. They took almost no time to make and had a fluffy texture with just the right amount of blueberries. They were also good and ‘hearty’ so you aren’t left feeling hungry after eating a few of them. The strawberry sauce, however, wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I found it had too much orange flavour, which overpowered the light and sweet strawberries.

I’d probably make these again, but only if I’m craving blueberry pancakes. Otherwise I’ll stick to our tried and true standard recipe.

Recipe from foodtv.ca

oatmeal pancakes

Originally uploaded by nyxie.

This blog has recently turned into a bit of a recipe journal rather than a restaurant comment and review site. We will get back to the reviews; I have one for Domus coming soon, and some comments to make about Juniper’s new location, which we’ve walked by a good number of times now.

But for now, here is the recipe for our breakfast this morning, a hearty oatmeal pancake served with maple syrup. They would also be delicious with any sort of jam, preserve, or poached fruit.

1 1/4 cups milk, soy milk, or rice milk
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour or unbleached white flour
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 large eggs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted, or unsweetened applesauce (if you want to reduce the fat content)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Bring 1 cup milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the oats, turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and uncover, stirring a few times, until milk is mostly absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, remaining 1/4 cup milk, butter (or applesauce), honey and vanilla in a small bowl. Add to dry ingredients along with the oat mixture and stir until moistened.

Lightly coat a skillet with oil or butter and preheat to medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan, spread a bit with the side of the spatula or measuring cup, and cook until bubbles form on the top and underside of the pancake is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Gently flip and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Continue until all batter is used.

Makes approx. 10 pancakes.

From 3 Bowls Vegetarian Recipes from an Americal Zen Buddhist Monastery: Seppo Ed Farrey with Myochi Nancy O’Hara.