pork tenderloin with apples and leeks

It's been so beautiful outside, I'm just loving family walks. I can tell Owen loves them as well in his Baby Bjorn. He seems to believe he's walking right along as he kicks his little legs like crazy every time we're moving. We went to Happy Rolph's today and Owen got his first look at farm animals. He was completely fascinated. I loved it because we were one of the only families there. We had a beautiful lakeside stroll - just us and the chirping birds.


I am pleased with my recent use of fridge and pantry items that were coming close to expiration. I had ricotta from last week and half a stick of cream cheese I didn't want to go to waste. So I decided to use them up and make Everyday Food's Lemon-Ricotta Tart again. I was only too pleased to make this a second time since I am continually dreaming about how much I enjoyed it this past Easter. I happened to have exactly half the required Nilla wafers, cream cheese and ricotta left over, so I halved the entire recipe and Voila! Lemon-Ricotta Bars!

Another detail that worked out amidst all odds was that I managed to bake these with that oven issue I mentioned last week. I did this by heating the broiler and keeping an eye on the temperature with the manual thermometer. I kept tin foil around as a fail-safe, but didn't end up needing it because as the oven slowly cooled the dessert baked perfectly.

I also made last night's dinner of Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Leeks under the broiler. I always knew pork and apples were a classic combination. I can remember growing up and eating pork chops with apple sauce. Well, I remember it clearly because I absolutely hated it.

The same way Swiss Chard with Raisins & Pine Nuts surprised me, this recipe is so surprisingly delicious I can't believe it. Every single ingredient compliments each other in a simple and most fantastic way. I will definitely make this again and probably serve it for a dinner party in the future. It's really that much of a show-stopper!

lemon-ricotta tart and carrot cake

Don't you just love Easter baking? Hot cross buns, European Easter breads with eggs baked in the middle, Easter Pie, Carrot Cake... I know I couldn't hold back from baking two different desserts for the holiday.

I first started with a classic Carrot Cake. This is Anna Olson's recipe printed in a bulk barn flyer this year. I'll post the recipe because if it was published in a flyer it should be OK for me to share on my blog of all 5 readers.

Anna Olson's Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cake:
3/4 c vegetable oil
3/4 c golden brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 c pure maple syrup
1 2/3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 c grated carrot
1 c golden raisins

Frosting:
1/2 c cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 c unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease an 8 inch square pan. Whisk together oil, brown sugar, eggs and maple syrup. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger and stir into wet mixture to blend. Stir in carrot and raisins and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 to 30 minutes, until tester inserted in center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.
To prepare frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together. Beat in icing sugar until smooth and stir in vanilla. Spread over cooled cake and store chilled until ready to serve.
Makes one 8-inch square cake. Serves 12 to 16

I had my reservations about baking this recipe only because I always stay true to form in baking with unsalted butter as the main fat and this calls for vegetable oil. I realized that pretty much all carrot cake recipes call for oil and the reason is because it works! Cream cheese icing completes it, but I always keep it optional because... well you know, I don't like icing. You know what's extra great about carrot cake? You can pretend it's the same as a carrot muffin so you have an excuse to eat a slice for breakfast!

I couldn't let the holiday go by without bringing the Everyday Food book into play. My mom said that she needed a dessert contribution to Easter dinner so I made the Lemon-Ricotta Tart.

Criminally easy. I don't feel like there is any challenge in baking in this book. Which in a way is nice - minimal effort, maximum flavour and little room for any errors.

So rich and creamy (even using light ricotta and light cream cheese) and not overly sweet! I'll make both of these recipes again and again.