recipes Archives - The Curated House

Thanksgiving-Inspired Homemade Baby Food | Baby Brezza

I don’t know about all the other mamas out there, but transitioning Tate to solids has been s l o w. Seriously, I joke he is a part of the slow food movement. It’s totally foreign to me because Noah was always a great eater. But Tate? Tate has chosen his own pace and his own timing, as he seems to do with many things.

Of particular challenge has been finding proteins we can get into him. The store bought baby foods with protein are just plain nasty – they stimulate his gag reflex in about 5 seconds flat. Honestly, I can’t blame him! I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get over this hurdle together…until recently when I received a Baby Brezza. With the technology to make finely puréed, organic baby food right at my finger tips I found myself suddenly at an advantage in this mealtime game of chicken.

Sorry, bad pun.

Anyway, armed with my Baby Brezza and the steely determination of a loving mama, I found inspiration in my Thanksgiving stuffing recipe and set about winning this little battle. Turns out it wasn’t mealtime {or protein} that was the problem so much as the food just needed to taste good. Go figure! I can handle making things taste good, and the Brezza can handle steaming and purée-ing things to a baby-approved fine texture, so together we are kind of unstoppable.

Here’s what I did:

I started by sprinkling some dried herbs on an organic chicken breast and sautéing it on high heat very quickly just to brown it slightly. My goal wasn’t to cook it, because the Baby Brezza fully steam cooks the food for you. I just wanted to give it some flavour, and a bit of caramelization on meat is pretty much magic, right?

I then sliced the chicken breast up and added:

1/4 c. organic pumpkin purée
1/2 an organic fuji apple
5 organic dried apricots
The teeniest touch of salt

I clicked the Baby Brezza into place {this requires a firm hand} and hit the steam + purée button and then chose the 25 minute cycle to ensure that the chicken would be fully cooked. I pressed the round green button and walked away.

25 minutes later I came back to perfectly puréed, actually tasty, totally healthy baby food. Yes, I did try it myself and yes it was indeed quite yummy. But the proof’s in the pudding, as they say, and Tate was the ultimate taste tester.

The great news is, he approves! Such a huge relief to feel like I can get balanced nutrients into this sweet little nugget. I’m still experimenting with recipes, but my creativity is really the only limit. I’m sure it goes without saying that the Baby Brezza would make a really thoughtful gift for any parents-to-be on your Christmas list. And if you are a mom struggling to get your little one to eat their protein and greens, don’t wait! Just pick one up for yourself right here.

Three cheers to winning that mealtime battle! Baby steps, right?

xo
s.

*Many thanks to Baby Brezza Canada for sending me this little baby mealtime wonder!

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|November 29th, 2014|0 Comments

Gluten-Free Foodie Friday | Banana Torte with Salted Caramel Mascarpone Frosting

I know. I’ve got some ‘splaining to do. I’ve been MIA for a week and I’m so sorry! All will be revealed soon enough, but I promise it’s been for good reason. And I haven’t stopped thinking of you, even if I had to take a brief break from posting! In fact, I was thinking of you all just a couple of days ago as I was making this little sumpin’ sumpin’ for a lovely visit from English family this week.

My husband’s favourite dessert has always been some form of banana cake, so I really made this one to please him as much as anyone else. But I wanted to satisfy my own love of contrast to enliven the tastebuds. I accomplished that {I think} with the natural sweetness of the bananas juxtaposed against a salty-sweet and creamy mascarpone frosting that one could really eat by the spoonful all by itself.

The cake itself is moist and dense and really more like a flourless torte in many ways, making it rich and delicious.

The frosting? Well, it’s a repeater for sure. In fact, I’m already dreaming up other desserts to make just so I can use this frosting again. Super yum.

Here’s what I did for the cake:

THE INGREDIENTS:

WET

5 mashed ripe bananas

1 c. fat-free Greek yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla

DRY

2 cups almond flour

1 cup tapioca flour

2 cups coconut sugar

3 Tbsp ground chia seeds

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

THE METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. At the same time, mix together all the wet ingredients in a stand mixer, then slowly add the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time until fully combined with the wet mix.

Pour the batter into a greased 9×9 inch brownie pan and bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. I chose to trim the outside edges off of the cake for a perfectly clean edge. {Let’s be honest, we also just really wanted to try some of the cake before we served it!}

OK, now for the magical frosting:

THE INGREDIENTS:

4 Tbsp salted butter

4 Tbsp maple syrup

250 g mascarpone cheese

THE METHOD:

We love making homemade salted caramel sauce to pour over ice cream or just to use as a base when plating a fancy dessert. This time, I decided to use it to sweeten and flavour my frosting. It was an experiment, and let’s just say it did not exactly fail. Super simple, super delish. Simply combine the butter and maple syrup in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 1 minute intervals, stirring in between. Usually at the 2 minute mark {depending on your microwave} you’ll start to get the gorgeous, candy-creating frothing bubbles that tell you you’re headed in the right direction. After the 2 minute mark, stir it and let it rest to see if it cools to the right viscosity. You want it to thickly coat the back of a spoon. If it’s not quite thick enough, try another 30 seconds. If you go too far, you’ll get maple taffy {not the worst mistake ever} and you’ll want to start again. Once you’ve learned the heat levels of your microwave you’ll find this super quick and easy to do.

Let the maple caramel cool in the fridge while you bring the mascarpone to room temperature. Once they are approximately the same temperature, whip them together with your stand mixture to create this gorgeously creamy, salty-sweet finishing touch.

I decided to make another batch of caramel sauce to just drizzle over the top, and to make it more pourable I added in 3-4 Tbsp of cream after the 2 minute mark.

This dessert may look simple in its presentation, but it wakes up the tastebuds and says “Hey there. How you doin’. Yeah, that’s right. I am that good. Take another bite. You know you want to.”

I hope this finds you happy and well and surrounded by the ones you love as you head into your weekend. And I hope you can enjoy something salty-sweet, creamy and delicious as you savour the richness of such good company. After all, it’s really the people we love that make life taste sweetest.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|June 14th, 2013|0 Comments

Wish List: Sunday Suppers

Imagine a most inspiring place, flooded with light and creativity. A place where the goal is to experience and learn and savour and create.

Image via La Tartine Gourmande

A place where market fresh, local and organic are de rigeur,

where irresistable food is lovingly crafted with these carefully gathered ingredients,

where local chefs and photographers teach cooking techniques alongside tips for food styling and photography,

and where friends gather to create seasonal, fresh meals together just for the experience of it.

You might think it too wonderful to be true, my dear friends, but it exists. In Brooklyn, NY, no less. This place I speak of is Sunday Suppers.

There are the “wish I could wish for that but I know it won’t come true” Wish Lists in life, and then there are the “I will wish for it as long as it takes until it comes true” Wish Lists. Sunday Suppers is on the latter for me. Hoping to have a post telling all about the experience down to every last finger-licking gourmet detail in the months to come.

In the meantime, get your drool-worthy fix of inspired recipes and spectacular photography here.

xo
s.

All photos by Karen Mordechai of Sunday Suppers

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|July 19th, 2012|1 Comment