Author: smoothiesandsundaes

Wedding Pizza

.Reading time 5 minutes.

This post has been in the draft section for a few years now! Hell, Megan and I just celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary this past summer and little Nicky is now 18 months. With both of us currently on holidays, and since I’ve tested this recipe with the kiddies at school a number of times with great success, I figured it’s time to finally get around to publishing it. Wait! Did I also mention that we recently received a donation of the whole modernist cuisine collection? Modernist Pizza (MP) is definitely going to be integrated into my curriculum in the upcoming semesters. It’s time to step up our pizza game at school!

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Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

.Reading time 1 minute.

A colleague of mine (also with an October birthday) approached me with the idea of a “super birthday” recently. In his family, everyone’s birthday is celebrated with one extravagant dinner (the person who gets to choose the establishment is picked by drawing names from a hat). I haven’t seen or gotten together with some of the staff at school for a few years, so I thought it was a great idea. The meal and the date have not been decided yet, but obviously we needed to start cake testing ASAP! Originally, I thought about making a cake that I had tested many many many times in my pre-selection for Canadian World Chocolate Masters, but instead decided I wanted to try something new. I ended up with what Megan is calling the “super chocolate cake for your super chocolate birthday”, inspired by a version of this that I saw on Instagram.

Gluten free chocolate sponge with crumble at the bottom and a layer of ganache on top.

This cake is pretty simple to make. First you start off by baking the crumble (gluten free) inside the ring, then layer on a gluten free chocolate sponge a la Heston, then finish with a layer of dark ganache on top (slight modification from the original recipe) to ensure it is sliceable. It’s simple, easy to make and perfect for chocolate lovers.

Mini Okonomiyaki (Okominiyaki)

.Reading time 5 minutes.
Mini okonomiyaki with bacon and shrimp

I think we’ve mentioned this a few times before, but Megan and I like to plan our meals ahead of time to reduce meal planning decision fatigue (it’s a real thing!). To keep thinks interesting, we try to plan for a variety of different types of cuisine throughout the week: Taco Tuesday, Japanese Wednesday, Indian Thursday, … And while we’re definitely not opposed to eating the same thing every week, we also like to change things up once in a while for a little variety week to week. Our baby boy just turned one and has been reaching for our food more frequently, so a good way to reduce some of our meal prep is to get him to eat what we eat. At this point it’s not too difficult, it just means laying off on the salt and sugar, and making sure the consistency is manageable for him. Okonomiyaki has been a really great option for this! We have also discovered that with something like a pancake, it’s much easier for us to hide his vegetables.

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Cabbage Squares

.Reading time 3 minutes.

This recipe is a lovechild between okonomiyaki and potato kugel (though it leans more toward the latter than the former).

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Japanese (Canadian) Chow Mein

.Reading time 3 minutes.

This is a dish that I grew up with – at Grandma’s house and occasionally at home. It always felt like a real treat: (a) because it’s so yummy, (b) because we didn’t have it often, and (c) because you knew you might get some leftovers the next day in a chow mein sandwich!

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