WEEKEND FUN

happy june first! here is a little photography i took over the past few days. this weekend in toronto had probably the worst weather in months. it rained all day saturday & sunday, plus the temperature decided to drop well below 10 degrees. however, we still managed to hit up a lot of toronto food spots! starting with a picnic by the waterfront friday night (before the rain hit), we ate sandwiches, drank old fashioned cream soda and got swarmed by the little black city bugs. saturday, knowing the rain was not going to stop we spent most of it indoors (eating). the day began with (loads of coffee) a souvlaki chicken lunch at it's all GRK on west queen west, an afternoon movie, freshly fried nutella doughnuts from fancy franks (sorry, they were devoured before i could take a good photo), and ended with a late night pizza dinner at the good son. as i have mentioned before the good son is my favourite restaurant ever.. and its not JUST because the entire restaurant is stocked with le creuset & old fashioned clocks:) sunday i finally got to go to liberty village's farmers market! even though it was kind of freezing and rainy, i came out with a massive bunch of rhubarb and strawberries (hint hint: pie is coming). to end off a lazy sunday, we ended up back at the good son (i swear, it's THAT good) for huevos rancheros, a dish i will never be able to pronounce properly,

GINGER SNAPS

LIL GINGY'S! which are actually just a cross between ginger snaps & speculoos cookies. what exactly is the difference between the two cookies?! i mean, they are both crispy and contain a whole lot of different spices. these may look slightly christmassy, but its only because the gingerbread man was the smallest cookie cutter i had on hand! i have seen ginger snaps in all different shapes.. hearts, circles, and even cats [from trader joes of course]. what inspired me to make these was my love for cookie butter, also known as speculoos. trader joe's introduced me to this little jar of heaven, but i was never really sure what to spread it on. i usually just ended up eating it by the spoonful, then i thought i will make cookies to dip it in or sandwich it between! it's the best of both worlds, a double cookie butter flavour in one perfect little bite. i will leave the cookie butter sandwich as an optional finishing touch as these cookies are perfect on their own, dipped in tea. also because we aren't all lucky enough to have a trader joe's near!

ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup raw sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 jar cookie butter/ speculoos (optional)

directions

• in a mixing bowl cream butter, raw sugar and brown sugar.
• mix in egg and vanilla until light and fluffy.
• sift in baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, black pepper, and flour. mix until combined.
• wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours, up to over night.
• once dough has firmed up in the fridge, roll out and sprinkle generously with flour (i found it to be a sticky dough).
• cut in desired shapes and bake at 350 degrees for 4-6 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.
• optional: let cookies cool completely and spread cookie butter in the middle and roll into rainbow sprinkles.

PROSCIUTTO + ARUGULA PIZZA

this is by far my favourite pizza. if you haven't already noticed from my previous posts, i am a big fan of prosciutto. this particular pizza is inspired by a pizza i had at one of my favourite toronto restaurants the good son in west queen west where freshly sliced prosciutto is LOADED on top. everything you see here is made from scratch; dough & sauce. this is a dough i have perfected over the years, and make some form of it every single week. it works well as a simple focaccia bread, calzone, and stromboli. it has an italian bakery like pizza taste & texture. i recenty purchased an emile henry pizza stone which gives the pizza a crusty exterior and fluffy interior, but the pizza will still be just as tasty without a stone.

ingredients

for the dough

• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (1 package)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

for the sauce

• 1 jar pureed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• salt & pepper

for the pizza (makes two pizzas)

• 1 batch of pizza dough (above)
• 1 batch of fresh pizza sauce (above)
• 3 cups freshly grated mozzarella cheese
• 100 grams thinly sliced prosciutto
• 1 container of arugula
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt & pepper

directions

• starting with the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer using the dough hook add the water, yeast, oil, honey, and salt. let sit 5 minutes until the yeast begins to grow (if the yeast does not change, check the expiry date on the yeast).
• add flour one cup at a time until a dough begins to form.
• knead dough for 5-8 minutes, until the dough becomes elastic and smooth.
• in a greased bowl, let dough rise covered for 1-2 hours, or until it doubles in size.
• for best results, let dough rest in the fridge over night in a sealed zip lock bag.
• for the sauce: mix all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on low heat for 5-10 minutes, just to let the flavoured mend. remove from heat and let cool.
• to assemble pizza: start by rolling out the dough. add sauce, cheese, and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes.
• once the pizza is fully cooked, remove from oven and scatter prosciutto slices on top.
• finish off by tossing the arugula with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. sprinkle on top of the pizza.