announcement: the verdigris is moving

I would like to apologize for the sparseness of posts over the past month or so. I have moved into a new apartment, I have gone on a holiday and I have been neglectful of the blog. Another factor leading to my neglect is that I have been working on redesigning my site; I am very pleased to announce that the blog is moving! It's moving right over here. I would like to thank my friend Colleen for creating my beautiful new logo; she is fantastically talented and charming. I'm working away on the redesign, so please excuse me while I tidy a few things up. 

If you are following my blog in your RSS feed, you can relink with the URL  http://www.theverdigris.ca/ to keep getting updates.  

winter-spring things

It is almost the end of winter! In Victoria, the last few days' beautiful sunny crisp weather have made me feel like it is spring already. I wanted to share a few things I have been eating, reading, buying,  and anticipating lately:

blood orange palomas

I was really excited to see blood oranges appear at the market in the last couple weeks. They reminded me that winter is on the turn, despite the snow and rain and wind and grey that have permeated Victoria lately. I bought up a whole bunch of them and started scheming exciting ways to use them. 

a little announcement!

There he is in my mixing bowl 

If you have been reading my blog for any stretch of time (thanks for that by the way!) you may have noticed a bit of a difference in the general fantastic-ness of the pictures around here the past few months.  I am really excited to announce that the source of  these much-lovelier photos: my friend and collaborator Tyrel Hiebert.

You can check his work out on his website, flickr, instagram and facebook. If you would like to order a print of anything here or work with Tyrel on another project, contact him here.

caramelized white chocolate and raspberry financiers

I made some caramelized white chocolate a while ago because I kept reading about it everywhere for a month or two. I loved it; caramelizing really helps to blunt the cloying sweetness of white chocolate and adds complex, toffee-y flavours. Have you ever noticed white chocolate on the surface of a baked good that is golden brown and crispy and tasty? That's caramelized white chocolate: naturally occurring caramelized white chocolate in its natural habitat. I always knew that I liked that stuff, but I hadn't realized that you can make it on purpose. Plus, it's really easy.  

quick little trick: buttering pans

I am really lazy about buttering pans and lining things with parchment and generally prepping for baking. Sometimes I just don't bother; I bake cakes in springform pans and I just cut them free rather than actually buttering the sides and cutting out parchment circles for the bottoms.

The other day I was baking some financiers in little tins that definitely need to be buttered properly or the cakes will get stuck and you will end up ripping them apart trying to pry them free. I was going to melt the butter to coat the pans and brush it on, but that just seemed like a bunch of extra steps and dishes to wash (lazy). So I tried just brushing softened butter onto the pans with a fairly stiff pastry brush. It was quick and easy and it got into little nooks and corners. I was really impressed with myself for thinking of this. A quick look online showed me that lots other people discovered this before I did. I am perhaps not quite the avant-garde tin-buttering innovator I briefly imagined myself to be. I am still excited about how easy and effective is was and I think it will lead me to butter pans properly more often. You should try it! If you want to. 

Photo credit: Tyrel Hiebert

leek and goat cheese tortilla

Tortilla de patatas, is not like a corn or flour tortilla; it is a Spanish potato omelette. It is a common tapas dish and it is really versatile. Sometimes I eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I'm feeling especially lazy. It is an fairly neutral canvass for any sauce you might desire and it'a perfect with a little green salad.

galette des rois + mini palmiers

First of all, a slightly belated happy new years to you all! I hope you had wonderful, safe, happy winter holidays. I spent the last few weeks mostly eating; I am pretty close to my upper limit for sweets but I managed to make room for one extra pastry post-Christmas. If you aren't totally burnt out from eating holiday treats, you might want to try a galette des rois, or a king cake.