EATS!

Gluten-Free Choux Pastry

2012-02-12T14:42:00.001-08:00

Ever-ambitious and endlessly confident in the gluten-free flour mix I've come to rely on, I decided to see what happened if I made a gluten-free version of choux pastry. It's family dinner time again and I decided that profiteroles were the way to go. Of course, I don't mess around with little mini choux. What a pain, especially since I'll only ever make one type of ice cream with which to fill them. I make cream puff-sized pastry and go from there. I used the vanilla toffee version of ice cream four ways as my filling and chocolate sauce for topping.

Now, I don't make choux pastry very often, despite my love for it. The last time was years ago. What I remember from previous batches is that it always seems to come together much faster than the recipe suggests. This was definitely the case with the GF version, as well. I had been worried that the GF version would be messed up because there is so much starch in the flour mix, but it didn't seem to be a problem. However, the butter continued to separate from the mixture a little even after I took it out of the pan to cool before adding the eggs, so my guess is that I didn't cook it long enough. The Joy of Cooking had me all paranoid because it said that overbeating and overcooking will cause puff failure. A cook can't win!

One thing to note is that I don't expect my choux pastry to be shatteringly crisp. In fact, I don't like it that way because I feel the flavor is lost. I like the taste of the pastry itself--otherwise why bother with it? For some, texture alone might make it worthwhile, but I delight in the egginess and always eat the innards when it comes time to clean out the puffs. If you're looking for super-crisp choux, it may be that GF isn't going to satisfy you, or that you need to do a better job than I of gauging how long to cook. If, however, you don't mind a softer texture (at its worst you could call it leathery, but I don't think it comes to that), this substitution should suit. After all, if you're going to fill the pastry with ice cream, it's not likely to retain its crispness for long anyway.

If you want to make regular choux pastry, simply use wheat flour in place of the GF mix and omit the xanthan gum (which I accidentally do in my GF stuff half the time with no terrible results).

I used my large, drop biscuit portion scoop for these puffs because I'm not the gal who is going to use a pastry bag. I sprayed it with cooking spray first; you could also just use neutral-flavored oil. I got 7 full-sized puffs (which is all I needed), and enough leftover to make 6 mini-puffs, that I plan to fill with chocolate pudding as a special Valentine's treat for the two Es and me. If you wanted all full-sized puffs, my guess is that you wouldn't get more than 8.

The butter separation aspect and the stickiness of the final paste made me very worried about the ability for my poor choux to puff, but I was thrilled to see that it puffed as much as my choux ever does and it tastes delicious (I know, as I ate every bit of scooped-out filling that my daughter would spare).

RICE FLOUR MIX: 2 c. brown rice flour, 2/3 c. potato starch, 1/3 c. tapioca
Some day I will also figure this out by weight!

INGREDIENTS
1 c. rice flour mix or wheat flour
Scant 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 c. milk (or half milk/half water)
1/2 c. (4 oz./113 grams) unsalted butter
1 TBSP sugar if using for sweet things, omit if savory
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs at room temperature

DIRECTIONS

Place rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees
Have a baking tray ready. I put Silpat on mine, but the Joy calls for ungreased, so if you don't have Silpat, you might not need to butter or use parchment
Mix the flour and xanthan gum and have at the ready
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, butter, salt and sugar if using over medium heat until it comes to a full boil
Dump in the flour all at once and stir constantly with a wooden spoon
The mixture will be messy at first, but as you stir it will come together and leave the sides of the pan. At this stage, oozing butter isn't supposed to be an issue, but my guess is that the butter should be absorbed before you remove from heat
Keep stirring. You're looking for a solid, smooth lump that shows the impression of a finger when you press it in
Remove mixture from heat and put in bowl to cool for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice
Put mixture in a food processor and beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure the egg is well incorporated before adding the next. My food processor did balk a bit at this but I had read online that it worked much better than a hand mixer or stand mixer (and is certainly easier than beating it with a wooden spoon!)
Mixture should be firm enough to stand up when spooned onto a baking tray
Scoop the mixture into the shape and size you like onto the baking tray. Make sure to leave lots of room for them to spread
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and continue cooking another 20-25 minutes until deeply golden and firm to the touch
Cool completely and then cut off the tops and scoop out any uncooked paste
Fill with ice cream or pudding and top with chocolate sauce

Chocolate Sauce

2012-02-12T14:29:00.001-08:00

This recipe is very similar to Chocolate Ganache, just a bit runnier. I also used whizzed up 70% Theo chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Surprisingly, I think I might prefer the chocolate chips, but this sauce is quite respectable.

I followed the Joy of Cooking method of using the food processor and it certainly all came together very easily!

I made the sauce in the first place for some profiteroles filled with the Vanilla Toffee version of Ice Cream Four Ways. I experimented with gluten-free choux pastry and was most pleased with the result.

INGREDIENTS
4 oz. (around 113 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (at least 60% cocoa, up to 75%). Chocolate chips are a fine substitute
1/2 c. half-and-half or a mix of whole milk and heavy cream
1-2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 TBSP dark rum or Cognac

DIRECTIONS

Break the chocolate into smaller pieces if using blocks. Put into the bowl of the food processor with the chopping blade and whiz until it's crumbs
In a small saucepan, heat the remaining ingredients (except vanilla/liquor) until boiling
With the food processor running, pour the steaming liquid into the chocolate crumbs. By the time all the liquid is added, the chocolate will have melted and a sauce formed
Pour sauce into a small bowl and stir in the vanilla or liquor

Serve warm or cold. Will keep refrigerated for 2 weeks. Thin with hot water as needed for serving.

Rice Pudding

2012-01-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

I used to make rice pudding somewhat frequently when I lived abroad, but for some reason it had fallen out of my repertoire for a few years. Elspeth was requesting black sticky rice the other day but we usually get it at the Thai restaurant near us and that didn't fit into our plans. I decided to make a more traditional Euro rice pudding to see if she liked it.

I turned to my standby in Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking. She uses vanilla bean and the zesty of lemon and orange to flavor the rice. Being short of lemons, I just used orange zest. Evan felt this gave it an "elegant Creamsicle quality" and I agree.

Rice pudding is such a cheap, simple and comforting dessert, equally good hot or cold. If you don't want the citrus notes, you could use only vanilla or you could add cinnamon. I think that American rice pudding often has raisins in it, so you could try that, too. I would use Wells' technique with any variation because I think the recipe is bound to work better using blanched rice and heated milk.

INGREDIENTS

1/3 c. (65g) raw white rice. She recommends long-grain but I used arborio-style with great success

1 vanilla bean or 1tsp vanilla extract

3 c. (75 cl) milk

Pinch of salt

Grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon (or any combination, optional)

2 TBSP (30g) unsalted butter

1/4 c. (50g) evaporated cane juice or vanilla-infused sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 F (165 C)
Wash and drain rice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with water by an inch or two. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with warm water. Set aside
Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. If you want, you can clean and dry the empty pod and then stick in your sugar jar to scent it with vanilla
Put the vanilla seeds, milk, salt and zesty in a large saucepan. If using vanilla extract, don't put it in yet. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to keep it from boiling over. (I didn't boil the milk. I felt scalding should be enough and it was)
Take pan off heat and stir in the butter, sugar and vanilla extract, if using. Stir to dissolve the sugar and let cool slightly
Stir rice into the warm milk mixture and pour into a 1 quart oven-proof dish. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour 40 minutes. Check at 1 hour 30 minutes. You shouldn't need to stir the rice. You know it's done when nearly all the liquid is absorbed
Remove from oven and let sit a few minutes before serving. Serve hot, warm, or cold. Excellent for breakfast

English Toffee with Chocolate and Almonds

2011-12-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

Growing up in the Pacific NW, Christmas was all about Frangos (always referred to as Frango mints in my house, no matter the flavor) and Almond Roca. Frangos are a melt-in-the-mouth chocolate candy with some special addictive quality (is it salt? or something else). Almond Roca is crunchy toffee coated in chocolate and almonds. Only at Christmas did we have the gold foil-wrapped Roca, as opposed to the cheaper (and more enviro-friendly) unwrapped seconds.

When I was living abroad, I missed Almond Roca and was excited to find a recipe in my trusty Fanny Farmer cookbook for "English" toffee with a variation that included the chocolate and almonds that made Roca so great. Not sure what makes the toffee English, but it certainly is delicious. Even better, it's really not tough to make, even without a candy thermometer. I'm not opposed to thermometers and other measuring devices, it's just that they never seem to work well for me. Though I try to follow a kind of "measure twice, cut once" methodology, the end result is often still skewed. But when I follow my instincts, at least in cooking, I do much better.

I turned out a perfect batch of toffee in Scotland, so imagine my surprise upon returning to the States and having failure after failure. Every time the butter seemed to separate into an oil slick on top of the toffee. I admit, there were tears of frustration. Then I got smart as decided to be scientific about it. I reviewed my ingredients compared to what I used in Scotland.

The first thing to go was the "hippie" sugar, aka evaporated cane juice. I feared that there was more moisture in this sugar and it was throwing things off. Still, I failed.

I then looked closely at my butter. I was using Trader Joe's organic unsalted butter. Seemed straightforward enough, but if the sugar wasn't the culprit, the butter had to be. Looking closely at the TJ package, I noticed it had added milk solids and said something about this making it richer. I wondered if these added solids were messing with the melting and candying. Sure enough, when I swapped in plain grocery store butter, my toffee again was perfect.

The moral of this story is, just use the white sugar and the nice-but-not-gourmet butter! And check the label on the butter to make sure there is nothing extra. I've produced batch after batch of wonderful homemade Roca and haven't cried (about candy) in years.

A note about nuts: most recipes are phrased something like "1 c. chopped almonds". I am far too lazy to chop my nuts and then measure them out. How wasteful to end up with too many and how annoying to end up with too few. Instead, I always use "1 c. almonds, chopped". I can't imagine that the end result of any of my efforts has been significantly affected by this approach, but I thought I'd mention it all the same.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. unsalted or sweet butter
2 c. (13.5 oz. or 400 grams) granulated white (or caster) sugar
4 oz. good-quality chocolate (I use Theo but any 70% cocoa chocolate would be nice)
1 1/4 c. (3.5 to 4 oz.), chopped raw almonds

DIRECTIONS

Grease a jelly roll pan or any large metal baking tray with a lip on it. Set out a clean pastry brush, two spoons (preferably wooden) and a small cup of cold water. If you think you'll want to test your toffee while it's cooking, set out one or two more small cups of cold water and some more clean spoons. This is all to avoid "sugaring". You never want to put a dirty spoon back into your toffee pot
Break up the chocolate into smallish pieces, put in a bowl and set aside--you can melt it while the toffee cools
Combine the butter and sugar in a medium sized, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid
Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the butter and sugar are dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil. Stir in the almonds, keeping back about 1/4 to 1/3 cup for topping
Use the cold water and pastry brush and wash down the sides of the pot. The goal is to get any granules of sugar to dissolve and go back into the mix. Otherwise you could end up with gritty toffee. You can also put the lid on the pot for a few moments to let the steam help dissolve the sugar
Now comes the stirring! Switch to a clean wooden spoon (might not be necessary, but I like to be extra careful). Boil the toffee slowly, still over medium heat. Stir slowly and constantly in one direction. Only touch the sides of the pot if the toffee seems like it's going to scorch
Cook until it reaches the "hard crack" stage, about 290 degrees F. As mentioned above, I don't use a candy thermometer. Instead, I wait (as patiently as I can) until the toffee is a nice deep golden brown. It takes longer than I think it should every time. The toffee also always looks to me like it will "sugar". It's opaque and kind of clumpy looking. Just keep stirring and have faith
Once the toffee has reached "hard crack" (I always wait until I think it'll burn if I leave it a moment longer), pour as evenly as you can over your baking tray. You can shake the tray a bit to even out the toffee, but don't try to spread it. It never fills my tray
Let the toffee cool a few minutes before scoring (though I can't say that scoring has ever yielded uniform pieces once the chocolate goes on, but it's worth a try)
While the toffee cools, melt the chocolate. I use the microwave, but you can also melt in a double boiler--this might take longer)
Score the toffee, then spread the melted chocolate evenly over it. Sprinkle on the remaining almonds
Let cool fully, then break into pieces (theoretically the scoring helps with this)
Try not to eat it all at one sitting and store in an airtight container. Keeps quite well at room temperature as long as it's well sealed

Late Summer Soupy Beans

2011-09-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

My refrigerator and freezer are starting to verge on survivalist territory; I am terrible at resisting gorgeous things at the farmers' market. I was determined to use up some of the delicious things lurking in my fridge and freezer for tonight's dinner. In particular, I wanted to showcase the dry pint of fresh, shelled cranberry beans I had picked up from Alm Hill. What I came up with was a riff on Tuscan bean stew that I will be doing my best to reproduce another day.

With fresh beans, I knew that I wouldn't have to cook them in the often to achieve the creamy texture we love so much. I wanted to maximize the flavor of the beans, so I brought out some roasted chicken stock. While I often make just plain chicken stock from raw bones, necks and other parts, I am also trying to have some broth made from roasted bones and wings on hand for those times when the broth really comes through. A recent dinner using whole wheat alphabet pasta in the turkey broth made from our Thanksgiving carcass was a revelation. That simple soup was unbelievably good. So, I cooked up the beans in 2 cups of the roasted chicken broth and just a bit of water to round it out and then went rooting around in the fridge for things to add to it. I'm sure that a good vegetable broth, ideally from roasted vegetables, would also work well for a vegetarian version.

Earlier in the week, I had cooked up a pint of cherry tomatoes according to Heidi Swanson's technique in Super Natural Every Day. (I'll include that in this post for those who are interested). I was sure those needed to be in my dish. Wanting to give Elspeth a bit of variety in her lunches, I had whipped up a batch of olive spread I had made using some of those roasted tomatoes. It occurred to me that the flavors might blend well with the beans, so I threw that in, too. Finally, nearly every savory dish I make has greens in it, so this was no exception. I took a handful of lacinato kale, ground it up in my mini chopper and pre-steamed it.

The end result of this somewhat unusual combination was fantastic. The flavor was very deep and it was hard to believe that there wasn't any bacon in the dish. I am pretty sure that the olive spread made the difference--bigger olive pieces wouldn't have worked as well. I love the idea of using olives to make a satisfying meatless dish. There was just enough broth left in the cooked beans to have us all slurping happily. Now I just have to hope that I can replicate it, maybe even with dried beans. (If using dried beans, I would definitely use the brining and oven-cooking technique from the Tuscan bean stew recipe and just add the tomato, olive, greens mixture once it came out of the oven).

ROASTED CHERRY TOMATOES
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/4 c. olive oil (I would reduce this by quite a lot when making again)
1 TBSP evaporated cane juice
1/2 tsp fine sea salt, or to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk the olive oil, salt and sugar together. Halve the cherry tomatoes and coat them with the olive oil mixture. Put the tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet. Roast in the upper third of the oven for 45-60 minutes or until the tomatoes are nicely caramelized and slightly shriveled. Store in the fridge and put any olive oil left on the baking tray into the jar or container along with the tomatoes.

SOUPY BEANS INGREDIENTS
1 dry pint fresh, shelled cranberry beans
2 c. roasted chicken or vegetable stock (unsalted)
1 tsp salt (omit if broth is salted)
1/4 c. water (approx--there needs to be enough liquid to cover beans by 1 inch)
1 recipe olive and tomato spread
1 recipe roasted cherry tomatoes (see above)
1/3 bunch dinosaur kale or other green, stems removed, ground or chopped finely, and pre-steamed and shocked in cold water
Dash smoked paprika
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

DIRECTIONS

Rinse and pick through cranberry beans
Place in a medium saucepan and cover with broth, adding water to cover by 1 inch if needed. Add the salt if broth is unsalted
Bring beans to a boil over medium-high heat then lower to a simmer. Cook beans for 30-40 minutes, or until tender
Meanwhile, combine roasted cherry tomatoes, olive spread, and pre-steamed kale in a small to medium saute pan. Warm over medium heat, adding paprika and crushed red pepper flakes to taste
When beans are soft and creamy, remove from heat and stir in the tomato, olive, kale mixture
Serve with crusty bread or drop biscuits to sop up every last drop

Fruit Gelato

2011-09-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

If Ice Cream Four Ways is my go-to recipe for non-fruity frozen treats, the following gelato recipe is one I turn to for anything involving fruit. The original recipe is for strawberry gelato and I found it on The Bitten Word, who got it from Bon Appétit. It was so delicious and smooth that I've since made it with blueberries and peaches. I'm sure it would be great with other fruits, too, such as raspberries or huckleberries.

Like the ice cream base in Ice Cream Four Ways, this recipe is low on eggs. In fact, the original recipe doesn't even call for eggs, but I felt it needed a little something so I add one yolk. The major differences between the gelato recipe and the ice cream recipe is that the gelato recipe calls for a small amount of cornstarch and does not use the whipped cream technique. I love this recipe because the fruit is really the star--there is more fruit than dairy. While this can lead to some iciness (especially in super-juicy fruits like the peaches), it is well worth if for the intense fruit flavor.

I had some beautiful farmers' market strawberries in my freezer in February when I made this the first time for family dinner. I used frozen farmers' market blueberries the next time and just this past month used fresh RAMA peaches for a peach gelato to top peach upside-down cake.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c. evaporated cane juice
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 c. whole milk
3/4 c. heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla or 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
2 1/4 c. sliced hulled strawberries or blueberries or chopped peaches or other fruit

DIRECTIONS

Combine cane juice and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan
Whisk in milk and cream and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble, about 5 min
Turn off heat and move pan to another burner. Let mixture sit 5 minutes or so
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk with a fork. Whisk in some of the hot gelato base and then add that mixture back into the saucepan
Return to a low heat and cook for a minute or two until the base thickens a bit more. According to Cook's Illustrated, I'm sure my egg yolk should have curdled because the custard was too hot, but after several times making it, I've never had an issue. The cornstarch needs to get hotter than the egg yolk, so that's why I do it this way
Cool the custard over an ice bath, add vanilla extract or lemon juice if using, then put in the fridge
If using strawberries or raspberries, simply puree them and strain them to get the seeds out, if desired (what a lot of work that is!)
If using blueberries, huckleberries, peaches or other stone fruit, bring the fruit to a low boil over medium heat to help concentrate the flavors. In the case of peaches, you might even want to separate the fruit from the juice and reduce the juice to a thick syrup before pureeing to reduce the chance of iciness. Another good idea would be to take 1/4 c. of the sugar and macerate the chopped fruit in it for at least an hour to soften and draw out the juices--this would make it easy to get the juice for making a syrup. You would still want to cook the peach pieces for a few minutes, as well, to make them soft. Puree the cooked fruit and let it cool
Combine the cooled gelato base and fruit mixture. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and then churn in an ice cream maker according to instructions

Ice Cream Four Ways

2011-09-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

While I love homemade ice cream, I can never force myself to make a recipe that calls for 6 egg yolks, as so many of them do. It just seems extreme to me. We often have homemade ice cream at family celebrations and it is nearly always accompanying something else, so it doesn't make sense to have the ice cream alone be extra rich.

What follows is my go-to ice cream recipe for non-fruity applications. I found it on Chowhound years ago and someone said that it was the Quilted Giraffe cinnamon ice cream recipe. That means nothing to me, but it might ring a bell for someone else.

It's been so long since I copied the recipe from CH that I don't know if I messed with the cinnamon version much or not. I'm suspecting I did because the "heat the half and half to 175 degrees" has Cook's Illustrated written all over it.

I use the basic concept (custard, simple syrup, whipped cream) as the foundation for several different flavors: vanilla/toffee vanilla, coconut, coffee and, of course, cinnamon. While there is only one egg yolk in the recipe, I still find it luxurious in the mouth and not too icy. We rarely have leftovers, so the texture is at its peak when we eat it. But even a leftovers are amazingly silky. Two or three days after churning, I detect miniscule ice crystals, and yet I am still totally satisfied with the smoothness of this ice cream. I think this must be because of whipping the cream before churning. This strikes me as genius--you start out churning ahead of the game. I wonder if you might end up with chunks of butter in your ice cream if you over-whip the cream, so be sure not to do more than soft peaks.

I am considering some streamlining of the recipe (for example, why is the simple syrup necessary? Wouldn't the sugar dissolve in the half and half?), but am presenting it here in the form that I know works.

My innovation this time is that I decided to see what would happen if I used coconut sugar (also called palm sugar) instead of my usual evaporated cane juice. Coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index than regular sugar and we've got a family member who is being careful about such things right now. "Blonde" coconut sugar looks much like light brown sugar and I thought that the combination with vanilla bean would be nice, as the plan is to use the ice cream alongside nectarine cobbler. I used the same amount of coconut sugar as I would evaporated cane juice. This turned out to be exactly right. The custard looks and tastes like toffee, as did the finished ice cream. Two days later it had even taken on some coffee notes, though I don't know why. The vanilla flavor is very subtle so you might wish to add some vanilla extract, as well.

INGREDIENTS (for any version)
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
1 egg yolk
2 c. half and half (or try whole milk mixed with some cream or by itself)
1 1/2 c. heavy cream

Cinnamon-- 1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 3/4 tsp vanilla
Coffee--3/4 c. whole coffee beans
Coconut-- 1 to 1 1/2 c. shredded unsweetened coconut (ideally the big flakes), 1/2 tsp fresh lime juice (optional)
Vanilla/Toffee vanilla--1 vanilla bean, sliced lengthwise and seeds scraped out and added; for toffee vanilla, use coconut sugar or half white sugar (evap cane juice) half light brown sugar instead of all evaporated cane juice, 3/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Put the half and half in the top of a double boiler. Heat half and half to 175 degrees F. For some reason today this took FOREVER, so I finished with a few bursts in the microwave. The only reason you do this part in the double boiler is that it saves you washing a pan because you'll need it for the egg part
Adjust heat to keep the mixture warm. Add the cinnamon stick, coffee beans, coconut flakes or vanilla bean to the warm half and half and let steep, covered, for at least 20 min
Strain the half and half and discard the solid bits. If necessary, top up the dairy to be 2 1/4 c. (the coconut flakes, in particular, absorb a lot of liquid)
Return the half and half to the double boiler and turn up heat to get it back near 175 (something about milk protein behavior is why the 175 degrees is significant but I haven't tested it myself)
Beat the egg yolk well in a small bowl. Beat in some of the hot half and half mixture, then add that to the rest of the half and half in the double boiler. Cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, 4-5 minutes
While custard is cooking, combine water and sugar (and ground cinnamon, if using) in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved
Remove custard from heat and stir in sugar syrup.
Cool mixture by setting the bowl in an ice bath then stir in vanilla extract or lime juice, if using
While mixture is cooling, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Fold into cooled custard
Chill mixture well (overnight is okay) and then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the instructions

Another Corn Salad

2011-09-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

I forgot that I'd already posted a corn salad recipe here on EATS! so last week I made up a new one instead of using the one I had.

I really do love corn salad, even if it is somewhat of a pain to get the corn kernels off the cob. I am very tempted to get one of those OXO corn strippers that looks like a computer mouse (but do I really need another kitchen gadget?). At any rate, last week, we served this salad with halibut and roasted green beans. Tonight we had a veritable vegetable feast (to quote Wallace & Gromit): baked Maris Piper potatoes, cucumber salad, steamed broccoli, red pepper strips and home-grown carrots along with this new corn salad. Everything came from the farmers' market or our home. The broccoli we've been getting from Five Acre Farm this summer has been exceptional--the sweetest I've ever had. We all tucked in gladly to the variety. Tomorrow we'll serve the rest of the salad, again with halibut, which we are just starting to get fresh at the farmers' market. Probably will make a pluot crumble for dessert, as well.

The major difference between this recipe and last summer's is that I saute the onion in butter instead of olive oil and add a bit of thyme. I omit the red pepper I used last year, but I'm sure the dish would be tasty with that addition, as well. I do roast my corn, but use corn cooked any way you prefer.

INGREDIENTS (double this for a crowd)
3 ears of corn
1/4 of a large, sweet onion, diced
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1-2 sprigs of thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

To roast corn, preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Once heated, throw in the corn (still in its husks) right on the rack. Cook 20- 25 minutes. (Deborah Madison says 15-20 but even after 20 minutes my corn has been slightly underdone). Remove corn from oven. When cool, remove husks and silk. Strip corn from cobs and "milk" cobs by scraping cobs with the back side of a chef's knife. Set aside
Heat the butter in a medium to large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until the onion is very soft but not brown. Strip the thyme from the branches and add to the butter and onion
Once the onion is soft, add the corn. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Taste--if the corn seems underdone, add a touch of water and put a lid on the pan to steam for 5 minutes
Adjust the seasoning by adding salt and pepper to taste
The salad can be served hot, warm or cold and is a great late-summer side dish

Raspberry Tartlets

2011-08-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

I posted a couple of years ago a recipe for a gluten-free raspberry tart. This is still a great recipe, but I found that I wanted to make individual tartlets instead of one big tart because gluten-free tart crust is so crumbly.

I kind of winged it in terms of amounts of things, but thought it would help to be a little more precise about how much tart dough and filling are required when converting the recipe into tartlets.

I discovered that 2-2.5 oz of tart dough per 4-inch tartlet pan is just the right amount to cover the pan nicely without too much stress over pressing it super-thin. A double batch of the GF tart crust recipe I used before is ideal. You'll end up with about a dozen tartlets. I only needed 8 for family dinner, but none of us complained about the extras. You could always freeze extra pre-baked shells.

A double batch of filling for a dozen tartlets is also the right way to go. You might end up with a little more filling in each tart, but I think that's a good thing. I upped the sweetening a little in the filling, as I find the GF tart crust to be ever-so-slightly bitter.

Don't skimp on the raspberries, either. I would increase the expected amount from 4 cups to 6 cups just to be really decadent about it.

Makes 12 tartlets

GLUTEN-FREE TART CRUST

RICE FLOUR MIX: 2 c. brown rice flour, 2/3 c. potato starch, 1/3 c. tapioca

CRUST INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 c. rice flour mix
1 1/2 c. ground almonds (almond meal)
2/3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
scant 1 tsp xanthan gum
8 oz. (1/2 lb, 2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 eggs, lightly beaten

DIRECTIONS

Pulse dry ingredients in a food processor briefly
Add the cold, cubed butter to the food processor and pulse until the mixture is coarse with lumps the size of peas
While the processor is running, add the beaten egg. Mix just until the dough comes together
Pat the dough into your tartlet pans and prick it all over with a fork
Freeze for half an hour
While the dough is cooling, preheat the oven to 350F
Place the tart pans on a baking tray (for convenience) and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes)
Remove tart crusts from oven and cool. Proceed with raspberry tart recipe

RASPBERRY FILLING

INGREDIENTS
4-6 c. raspberries, halved (it's okay for 2-3 c. of the raspberries to have been frozen, but do thaw them first. You really need fresh raspberries for the topping, though)
1 c. crème fraîche (well-strained whole milk yogurt works very well, too)
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 c. ground almonds (almond meal)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Cover the bottom of your par-baked tartlet crusts with 2-3 cups of raspberries (fresh or previously-frozen)
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients
Pour over the raspberries in the tart crust
Bake until the custard is set (puffed and golden), about 15-20 minutes (can't remember exactly how long it took them to cook, so start checking at 15 and don't panic if it takes longer than 20 minutes. Full-size tart is supposed to take 35 minutes)
Remove from the oven and cool completely (I like this tart best cold)
Just before serving, heap the remaining 2-3 cups fresh raspberries on top of the tartlets

Safe-for-School Granola Bars

2011-08-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

Elspeth's preschool, like so many these days, is nut-free. Since nuts are my favorite go-to source of nutrition in nearly any situation, it can be a bit of a challenge to make sure that Elspeth gets enough of a balance in her lunches. Enter these granola bars. I tried many different baked and unbaked variations before I finally hit on these. This recipe from PCC (Puget Consumers Co-Op) "Taste" newsletter had the most potential. Before we wanted to pack them for school, I had made them with Trader Joe's Tempting Trail Mix, my very favorite trail mix ever. Even then, I liked the bars but didn't love them.

Much to my surprise, the use of sunflower butter and chocolate-covered, candy-coated sunflower seeds in place of the peanut butter and trail mix resulted in a superior bar. These bars are dangerously more-ish. They're hardly health food, but as a snack/dessert goes, I think they're a great one to have in the repertoire.

Though it uses more sweetener than I'd prefer, Trader Joe's fat free Blueberry Muesli is perfect for this recipe. (You'd think I was being paid by TJ, but alas, no, I just like many of their products). To cut the sweetness, I still use plain quick-cooking oats.

INGREDIENTS
1 c. quick-cooking oats
2 c. Trader Joe's blueberry muesli or other muesli
1 1/2 c. dried tart cherries
1/2 c. candy-coated chocolate-covered sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp salt
Other mix-ins as desired such as grated coconut or mini chocolate chips
1/3 c. brown rice syrup
1/4 c. honey
2 TBSP oil
1 c. sunflower butter

DIRECTIONS

Lightly grease an 8 inch square pan with oil or non-stick cooking spray
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl--kids are great helpers with this as long as they don't eat all the goodies
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the brown rice syrup and honey to a low boil for 2-3 minutes
Add the oil and sunflower butter and mix thoroughly until it is as smooth as you can make it
Pour the warm mixture over the dry ingredients and stir well. You might want to get your hands in there to help mix
Press the mixture into your pan and let cool
While PCC Taste recommends flipping the bars out to cut them, I find them too crumbly for this. Instead, I cut them into 1 inch squares (or thereabouts) and serve them from the pan
Keep the leftovers covered. If it's very warm in your house, I recommend keeping the bars in the fridge as the sunflower butter can get pretty melty and sticky otherwise

Chocolate Ganache

2011-08-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

It's Elspeth's birthday coming up and she has requested a chocolate cake. I can't remember now what I made for her third birthday (terrible mother that I am), but I know I made chocolate zucchini bread in a Bundt pan for her 2nd birthday. For her 4th birthday, I'm going to do it in a 9x13 pan and add some chocolate frosting, at her request.

My friend Valerie inspired another family favorite dessert, a type of parfait that layers chocolate cake with tart cherries, whipped cream, and chocolate ganache and accented with slivered almonds. I thought the ganache would be a great, easy frosting for my buttercream-hating daughter and should also work well for the rocket ship stencil I plan to attempt. (The rocket will be done in rainbow sprinkles). The zucchini cake already uses chocolate chips, so I can just use the rest of the package in the ganache.

Valerie really likes the Joy of Cooking (I'm more of a Fannie Farmer girl myself), so I use their recipe in her honor. It's also a good one. Valerie is the one that tipped me off that I could use chocolate chips for this. I like Trader Joe's semisweet ones.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c heavy cream
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
1 TBSP liqueur (optional--might be good for texture, but I never use it)

DIRECTIONS

Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan big enough to add the chocolate
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the chocolate chips, stirring until the chocolate is nearly all melted
Cover mixture and let sit for 10 minutes
Stir the mixture until very smooth
Stir in liqueur if using
If using for frosting, let sit until spreadable, then use as desired. This can also be used as a pouring glaze. If doing that, don't let it sit so long before using

Keeps in the fridge for up to a week or can be frozen. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Not-Quite-Instant Chocolate Pudding

2011-03-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here's another Cook's Illustrated recipe, this time for chocolate pudding. As a kid, it never occurred to me that pudding could be made from anything but a box. I always kind of liked the stuff, but it was never a favorite. This past Valentine's Day, I was looking for something a bit special to serve the family, just for fun. I have some coeur a la creme (pardon the lack of accents, etc), that were gifted to me and I thought it would be fun to serve chocolate pudding in them. Elspeth was enthralled and kept on saying, "I love this", so I took that as a good sign.

Cook's published a recipe in 1999 for double chocolate pudding and this is my go-to recipe. Interestingly, they just published another chocolate pudding recipe in the Sep/Oct 2011 issue in which they made no mention of their prior effort. I find this silly, as long-time readers are quite likely to remember that they've covered the topic before. I have no quarrel with re-visiting recipes, but instead of pretending it's not an update, I wish they'd give me some analysis of what qualities that Recipe A has that Recipe B doesn't, and vice versa. To insist that there is only one definitive recipe for any dish leaves no room for different tastes. I don't know if I'll try the 2011 version. It has 2 oz. less bittersweet chocolate and 1 TBSP more cocoa powder. I thought the original 1999 recipe was plenty creamy so I'll likely stick with that. Or, I might do a side-by-side tasting and complete my own analysis of the pros and cons of each version.

This pudding is particularly nice accompanied by raspberries.

INGREDIENTS

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (we use Theo)
2 TBSP cocoa powder (Cook's specifies Dutch-process, but I use whatever I've got)
2 TBSP cornstarch
2/3 c evaporated cane juice sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 c light cream (I end up using heavy cream or half & half because they're easier to find)
3 large egg yolks
2 c whole milk (I have 2% on hand, so the combination of heavy cream and 2% seems a good compromise to me)
1 TBSP unsalted butter , softened
2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

I like using the microwave to melt the chocolate, but you can use a double boiler if you prefer. To use the microwave, break the chocolate into evenly-sized pieces and put in a glass bowl. Microwave on 50% power for 3 1/2 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. If after the full time the chocolate is still not fully melted, microwave on 50% power up to another 30 seconds. Set aside melted chocolate to cool slightly
Sift the cocoa powder, sugar, cornstarch and salt together into the bottom of a heavy medium-sized saucepan. I like our 3 qt. pan.
With the heat off, slowly whisk in the cream, eggs yolks and, lastly, the milk. Then stir in the chocolate. Expect clumps.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly and making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot. The chocolate clumps will even out with heat.
When the pudding darkens and thickens, reduce heat to medium and stir until the pudding very thickly coats a spoon (about 200 degrees F). This should take only a minute or two.
Put the pudding through a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Stir the butter and vanilla into the pudding in the bowl (discard any residue in the strainer)
Gently apply some parchment paper to the top of the pudding to help avoid it forming a skin
Cool 30 minutes and then refrigerate until serving

Citrus Sponge Custard

2010-10-10T08:31:00.001-07:00

Family dinner time again and I was searching for a gluten-free lemon dessert that didn't call for nearly a dozen eggs (sorry, lemon curd tart, I'm sure you're delicious). Though I am not a fan of the layout and certain other aspects of The Joy of Cooking, it is certainly a valuable resource when Fanny Farmer doesn't quite do the trick.

After much deliberation, I decided to try the Lemon Sponge Custard recipe, figuring that making it gluten-free would be a snap--anytime a recipe calls for mere tablespoons of flour, I know it's a good candidate. If you don't need a gluten-free recipe, just use regular wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour.

The neat thing about this dessert is that it separates into two layers. The top is like a very soft sponge cake and the bottom is silky custard. Hard to go wrong with that! We were debating over dinner why the separation occurs and concluded that it has something to do with the water bath, but it's still kind of mysterious (in a good way).

The Joy says that you could either serve in its pan or unmold to have the custard layer on top. Ha! I flipped my cake pan and there was no movement, so I just served from the pan as-is. I didn't have enough ramekins to make individual desserts, but the family chimed in that they thought someone might be willing to gift some to me for Christmas if desserts like this one were to be the pay-off. Because it is a bit messy to remove from one large pan, I think that individual servings would be the best route.

The Joy also says that the recipe serves six. We were having a heavy main course, so I decided to risk spreading across nine enthusiastic dessert eaters and it was fine, particularly since we served it with pistachio gelato (made by Costco, as it happens--quite delicious and not fake green). If I did cook in ramekins, then, I would spread over nine of them. If that seemed skimpy, you could always do a 1.5 batch or a double.

This dessert would also be great with orange, so I'm providing the Joy's suggestion on how to do that. You could even mingle orange and lemon zests, I am sure.

If making gluten-free, use any GF flour combo you like. As always, my standard is 2 c brown rice flour, 2/3 c potato starch, 1/3 c. cornstarch. I pre-mix and keep in the freezer.

INGREDIENTS
2/3 c. evaporated cane juice
2 TBSP softened unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
4 eggs
3 TBSP whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free flour
2-3 TBSP grated lemon zest, or the zest of one orange
1/4 c. strained lemon juice or 2 TBSP lemon juice plus 1/4 c. strained fresh orange juice
1 c. whole or 2% milk

Super-hot tap water for the water bath

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven t0 325 and make sure you have a pan that will hold all of your custard cups or a 9x2 inch round cake pan. To fit the latter, I needed to use my roasting pan. The Joy recommends putting a rack in the pan so that your custard cups/ramekins or cake pan do not touch the bottom of the pan
Lightly butter your cake pan or six to nine 6-ounce custard cups/ramekins
Separate the eggs. Eggs separate most easily when they're cold, but egg whites whip better when they're at room temperature, so do this part early and leave the egg whites out on the counter. You'll only need 3 of the yolks--save the remaining one for another purpose
Combine the citrus juice and zest in a bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes. This is a Cook's Illustrated tip to help soften the texture of the zest
In a medium bowl, mash the butter, sugar and salt together with the back of a wooden spoon
Then beat in the 3 egg yolks. I used a hand mixer
Add the flour and beat until smooth
Slowly beat in the citrus juice and zest
Stir in the milk and set aside
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry (firm peaks)
Gently whisk the whites into the other mixture until no large lumps of white remain. Apparently, if you save 1/4 c. of sugar to beat in with the whites and then fold them in, you'll get more of a meringue effect. I'm not a meringue fan so didn't try this.
Ladle (the Joy specifically cautions against pouring) the mixture into your one cake pan or several custard cups/ramekins
Place the cake pan/cups/ramekins into the pan you've selected and put the pan in the oven
Now pour the scalding tap water into the pan until it reaches about halfway up the cake pan/cups/ramekins. Ideally the sides of the sponge custard dishes will not touch the sides or bottom of the water bath pan
Bake until the sponge custard(s) is/are puffed and golden, about 30-40 minutes regardless of the size of dish you use. They're done when the sponge on top springs back when pressed lightly with a finger. Remove from oven
Let stand 10 minutes in the water bath once out of the oven
This dessert can be served warm, at room temperature or chilled, it's particularly delicious garnished with fresh or frozen raspberries and you can throw in some gelato on the side if you like

Cornbread

2010-09-17T10:22:00.001-07:00

We have been having lots of family dinners lately, gathering to remember one of Elspeth's great-grandmas who died this week. I lost my grandparents years ago, before I ever met Evan. It's been a blessing that Elspeth has spent so much time with Evan's grandmothers, Nana Ellen (92) and Grandma Julie (94). I know that Elspeth has given them much joy, as well. Grandma Julie was quite a character and we will miss her greatly.

Family dinner means offering gluten-free options. The family member with celiac never expects the rest of us to bend over backwards for him, but I love being able to serve something tasty and then add, 'Oh, and it's gluten-free'.

Tonight, Evan's mom is making chili, so I thought I'd do a gluten-free cornbread. I had referenced cornbread in my Southwest Shepherd's pie recipe, but never did a stand-alone recipe for it. I am pretty sure that I can just swap out the wheat flour for the GF flour mix (2 c. brown rice flour; 2/3 c. potato starch; 1/3 c. tapioca flour) and add some xanthan gum.

This recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison's basic cornbread recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

INGREDIENTS
A knob butter for the pan
3/4 c. corn flour (not cornstarch)
1/4 c. cornmeal
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour or GF flour mix
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp xanthan gum (omit if using wheat flour)
1 c. milk
2 eggs
3 TBSP agave nectar (or honey or sugar)
1/4 c. butter, melted and slightly cooled

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Put a knob of butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or an 8x8 square pan. You could also just use a bit of nonstick cooking spray--there's plenty of butter in this cornbread. You may also make this into muffins. If doing muffins, use nonstick cooking spray if needed
Let the butter melt in the oven and swirl around in the pan to coat. Do not leave the butter in the oven too long or it will burn
Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl
In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and agave nectar/honey together
Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until just moistened
Stir in the melted butter. Try not to overmix
Pour into prepared pan or muffin cups and bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

Bee-Bim Bop

2010-09-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

Elspeth gets to choose her own books at the library, and we came home with Linda Sue Park's Bee-Bim Bop. It's a fun read, made even more fun when you use the recipe included in the book.

My version of the recipe is not meant to replace Linda Sue Park's. She does a great job of providing instructions for the child and the adult. I'm not going to bother doing that. However, I want a record of the recipe here, as I know we will turn to it again and again.

The first time we made it, we followed the recipe completely. The second time, we just added whatever vegetables we felt like. We never have green onions or bean sprouts on hand, and I would hate for that to stop us from making the dish. This last time, we sauteed up some onion, mushroom and red pepper and included that in our toppings. The recipe is versatile enough to allow you to throw in whatever you've got in the fridge.

The marinade for the beef is delicious. I'd be interested to try it with chicken or even tofu.

I find that the greens work best when ground finely in the food processor, steamed, and then mixed in with the rice. Elspeth still doesn't like to eat big pieces of cooked greens--I don't think I was fond of that texture myself until my mid- to late- 20s!

Try this recipe and you'll find yourself "hungry, hungry, hungry for some bee-bim bop". Don't forget to "mix like crazy"--that's Elspeth's favorite part!

INGREDIENTS
1 c. rice (we like to use brown, often short-grain)
2 c. water
1 bunch greens, cleaned, steamed and finely chopped or processed

1 lb beef (she recommends sirloin tip. We used chuck steak last time. Any somewhat tender cut should work)

MARINADE
2 cloves garlic
2 green onions or 1/4 of an onion
5 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP sugar (I bet you could use honey, as well)
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1 TBSP sesame oil
1/8 tsp black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

TOPPINGS
2-3 eggs
2 carrots, shredded or cut into the shape you like best
Assortment of other cooked vegetables such as peas, peppers, onions, broccoli, mushrooms, blanched bean sprouts, etc all in separate bowls for letting people choose their own toppings
Kim-chee or other spicy sauce/condiment as desired

DIRECTIONS

Mix the marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl
Cut the beef into thin strips and add to marinade bowl. Smoosh the beef around in the marinade really well and let sit for half an hour while the rice cooks
Rinse the rice well. Put in a medium pot with the water and a pinch of salt if desired. Bring water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook white rice for 20 minutes, brown rice for 40 minutes or until water has been absorbed and rice tastes cooked
Crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk with a fork. Add a touch of soy sauce or sesame oil, if desired
Using a preheated, small saute pan or skillet coated lightly in oil, spread about half the egg in the thin layer over the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat until the egg is set and then flip over (in one piece if possible) and cook the other side for a moment. Take out of pan and repeat with remaining eggs. When cool enough to handle, stack the egg pancakes one top of one another and roll them into a cigar. Cut crosswise into strips. Put in a small bowl to offer for toppings
Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Pour the marinade and beef into the pan all at once. Stir the meat to cook evenly. Cook for a few minutes or until the meat is no longer raw. Put the meat with all of its delicious juices into a bowl for serving
Mix the greens into the cooked rice and put in a serving bowl
When all of the parts of the meal are ready, bring everyone to the table. Everyone should take some rice, meat and gravy and then add the other toppings as they wish
Mix it, mix like crazy and enjoy the bee-bim bop

Stone Fruit Upside-Down Cake

2010-09-10T08:15:00.001-07:00

Every year we do a peach and nectarine CSA share with RAMA farm (named after the farmers, Rick and Marilyn). These are the best examples of these kinds of fruits we've ever had, plus Marilyn and Rick are really nice people.

This year, instead of sharing a box with Evan's parents, we decided to go for it and get a whole box per week of our own (18-24 peaches or nectarines). Three weeks of peaches, two of nectarines. Well, even with our impressive stone-fruit-eating abilities, we've had some left over. Some of it I've turned into freezer jam. I've got 9 jars of peach already (at a ratio of 6 c. fruit to 2 c. sugar) and figure I'll have enough nectarines for a few jars, as well.

Evan and I got to have our first trip away from Elspeth this August and I wanted to leave a little something nice for her and my in-laws. I made the peach upside down cake shown.

Evan loved it so much that he requested it for his birthday cake. I made a gluten-free version which was slightly tougher than the one with wheat, but was still devoured by everyone. As a reminder, the gluten-free flour mix I use is 2 c. brown rice flour, 2/3 c. potato starch, 1/3 c. tapioca (not the pearls).

The only part of this recipe that confuses me is the part about melting the butter and brown sugar in the skillet. The butter melts just fine, but Madison says that the sugar should be 'melted and smooth'. The problem is, the brown sugar doesn't have time to melt all the way before the butter starts to burn. I had expected that the mixture would look like caramel, but it didn't either time I made it. Instead, I left it as long as I could and when I smelled the butter starting to burn, I just turned off the heat and spread the brown sugar-butter slurry as evenly over the bottom of the pan as possible. The good thing is, the end result is still delicious. The juice from the fruit mixes with the sugar and butter and makes a loose caramel. The edges of the cake are especially yummy, much like a pecan caramel sticky bun.

INGREDIENTS
5 ripe peaches or nectarines
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
3 TBSP butter
1/3 c. toasted chopped pecans or almonds

1/2 c. unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 c. evaporated cane juice
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs at room temperature
2/3 c. almond meal
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour or GF flour mix
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Melt the butter and brown sugar in a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. As noted above, you may not get a fully liquid caramel. Take the pan off the heat if you smell the butter start to burn
While the butter and brown sugar are melting, quarter the peaches or nectarines, removing the pit and the skins if using peaches
Set the fruit quarters decoratively in the skillet, making a concentric circle from the outside edges to the center
Sprinkle the toasted nuts into the gaps between the fruit pieces. Set aside
In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and evaporated cane juice until fluffy
Add the almond and vanilla extract and beat in
Beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is smooth
Stir in the almond meal and then the rest of the dry ingredients
Spoon the cake batter over the nectarines and use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread evenly
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is golden and has started to pull away from the sides of the skillet
Remove from oven and let sit a few minutes. Then loosen the cake edges with a butter knife along the sides of the pan
Hold your breath and invert the skillet onto a large plate. If any fruit bits stay in the pan, just put them back on top of the cake. I've been pleased with how easily this cake has released from the pan. I haven't even lost any fruit!
Serve warm or cold, with or without ice cream

Homemade Pizza

2010-09-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

This is less of a recipe and more of a general guideline and cooking instructions to follow up from my previous post.

We like to prep all the topping possibilities and then let each person make her own pizza. Alternatively, we cook our daughter's little pizza first and then combine the remaining two dough portions to make one large pizza so that the whole family can eat together at the same time. (By the time our pizza is cooked, our daughter's is cool enough to eat).

We tried to cook pizza on the grill this summer when we didn't want to heat the house. It was good, but because we just have a Weber Q rather than a full-sized gas grill, we don't have as much control over the temperature and method (direct/indirect) as we would really require for the optimum crust texture. By all means, use a grill in the hot months and then switch to the oven in the cooler time. Just know that your crust results may vary from method to method.

Patricia Wells has a great suggestion for any ingredients that might dry out in the oven such as mushrooms or prosciutto--coat them lightly with olive oil and let rest for a few minutes before using. She also notes that a marinade of olive oil, rosemary and hot pepper flakes used on thin slices of red onion at least an hour before using can help both the texture and flavor of onions used on pizza. We tried this and the onions definitely had less of a bite and were not too crispy.

INGREDIENTS
Individually-portioned pizza dough, thawed
Fresh or thawed pizza sauce
Desired toppings (such as cheese, chorizo, capers, olives, peppers, mushrooms, pine nuts, greens, onions, etc)
Flour or cornmeal as needed for dusting

INSTRUCTIONS

If using the oven, preheat at 500 degrees for at least 40 minutes before you want to cook your pizzas. Ideally you'll have a pizza stone in there that also preheats. This will ensure the crispiest crust. If using a grill, you will want to preheat but we found we couldn't use such a high temperature. We cooked the pizza directly on the grill grates--you could also try preheating and using your pizza stone on the grill
On a clean counter or board, sprinkle flour liberally and put one of the dough portions on it. Try to get the dough as thin as possible, slightly thicker around the edges. Depending on how sticky, firm, or relaxed your dough is, you might want to use a rolling pin or use your hands and gravity to get the dough spread out. You're aiming for the 'window pane' effect, where the dough is so thin you can almost see through it. Even if you don't get it this thin, it'll still be delicious
Transfer the rolled out pizza crust to your pizza peel or whatever you're going to use to get the pizza into the oven. (I love my Super Peel which makes it a breeze to get the crust from the counter to the peel and the peel to the oven. You may wish to dust your peel with cornmeal to help sticking. If you don't have a peel, you could always just put the crust on a baking tray
Use a light hand to apply the sauce and toppings. If you use too many toppings, the pizza may get weighed down and become soggy. Leave about 1/2 inch perimeter all around with no toppings so nothing leaks out onto the stone (and you get a lovely, puffy crust)
Transfer the pizza to the hot baking stone (or put baking tray in the oven or on the grill)
Set the timer for about 8 minutes as an initial guess. After the 8 minutes, check to see if the crust has risen and appears fully cooked. If using cheese, it should be melted and bubbly. Cook longer if necessary
Remove from oven and serve immediately for best crust texture

Pizza Dough

2010-09-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

As much as I love the long-storage method for bread dough that is our winter staple, I find the dough too wet to make pizza crust easily. Instead, I turn to one of my favorite cookbook authors, Patricia Wells, for her recipe found in her Trattoria cookbook. I've been making this pizza dough for years, pairing it with her pizza sauce and a variety of toppings.

With parenthood, I haven't found as much time for pizza-making as I once did. However, I was inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to consider planning ahead to make a weekly pizza night for the family. It just took me a year to do anything about it.

Being the (over)conscientious parent that I am, I've been concerned about using canned goods in our family meals because most can linings have BPA in them. So, I've been trawling the farmers' market looking for tomato seconds and roasting them up to use in the pizza sauce recipe with good results. I buy as many tomatoes as I can each week and freeze the sauce we don't use in baby cubes (which are about the right portion size). I bought some shredded mozzarella and divided that into packets, as well. The goal is to be able to reach into the freezer and pull out exactly what we'll need for pizza night and expend minimal effort.

To that end, I made a triple batch of pizza dough, let it rise overnight, punched it down and divided it into individual pizza-sized lumps. I then wrapped up the lumps in waxed paper (since I'm trying to avoid as much throwaway plastic as possible-you could use plastic wrap) and froze them. Some Internet sources suggested doubling the yeast for frozen dough, but the dough I defrosted didn't need any more oomph. It turns out that our daughter doesn't need a full portion of dough to herself, so I just pull out two lumps of dough and steal a bit from each for her little pizza.

Though I normally like kneading dough by hand, because I was making such a big quantity, I pulled out the dough hook and the stand mixer. A double batch fit perfectly in the bowl--it would have been pushing it to do all three batches in one go.

My recipe only differs from Wells' in that I use a large proportion of whole wheat bread flour instead of only white bread flour. I find that I don't need to add extra gluten to achieve a nice texture as long as I don't go above about 2/3 whole wheat to 1/3 white.

The below recipe is for one batch, enough for four adult-sized individual pizzas.

INGREDIENTS
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/3 c (330 ml) lukewarm water
2 TBSP olive oil
2-3 c. whole wheat bread flour
1- 1 3/4 white bread flour

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the yeast, sugar and water in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook). Stir or mix until dissolved. Let sit for 5 or so minutes until it gets foamy (if it doesn't, the yeast may not be at its best)
Add the salt and the olive oil and stir or mix to combine
Add the flour, one cup at a time, starting with the whole wheat. Do not add the next cup until the previous has been well absorbed. If using a mixer, the stir setting works well
Continue adding flour until the dough forms a ball, at least 3 cups
Either transfer the dough to a clean counter or board to knead for 4-5 minutes or turn the mixer to a higher setting and let it go for a similar amount of time. Add flour as needed if it gets to sticky (you may end up adding all of the remaining 3/4 c. flour)
If using a mixer, turn the dough out at the end of the kneading cycle and knead a few times by hand to get a sense of the texture. The dough may be a little sticky, but if you have wet or oiled hands it should be quite easy to work with. If it's not, you might need a bit more flour
Wells' suggests transferring dough to a clean bowl, but I tend to re-use the mixing bowl unless it's really icky
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, a lid or a tea towel and let rise in the refrigerator 8-12 hours until it has doubled or tripled in volume
The dough will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge. If you wish to do that, just punch it down every 8-12 hours as it doubles or triples
Use to make pizza or freeze as desired

FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS

Divide dough evenly into four pieces
Wrap well in plastic wrap or waxed paper (I do a light coating of oil on the dough if using waxed paper), then put the bundles in a larger freezer bag or container
Freeze well (we use our outside freezer for storage)

THAWING INSTRUCTIONS

The night before you want to have the pizza, remove the appropriate number of dough bundles from the freezer and put in the refrigerator to thaw. If you don't have that much notice, just defrost the dough all at room temperature.
The next morning or sometime the next day, bring the dough out and let rise again at room temperature. Punch down if it gets really fluffy
Proceed with pizza recipe as normal

Summer Corn and Pepper Salad

2010-08-01T16:11:00.001-07:00

We are on salad duty tonight for family dinner, and I wasn't sure that everyone in the family would love cucumber salad as much as I do, so I decided to offer an alternative. The first corn of the season showed up at our farmers' market today and I had two pepper halves from last summer still in the freezer. I remember making something similar the summer I was pregnant--not sure if I replicated that tasty recipe or not, but I'm happy with how this one came out.

I roasted the corn first since I needed to roast the pepper halves, but I think you could just take the corn from the cob along with the scrapings and cook directly in the pan if you wanted. In that case, you would want to add earlier than the roasted pepper. In fact, if you didn't want to turn on the oven at all, you could add the pepper to the pan raw. I thought that as our pepper had been frozen, it would be tastier to roast it first. Of course, you could go the other direction entirely and roast the onion and then omit the saute pan. The options are many!

INGREDIENTS
4 ears corn
1 red, orange or yellow pepper or combination of the three
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1/4 large onion, diced (I like a fine dice for this recipe, about the size of a corn kernel)
Generous sprinkle of salt and pepper
Small dash of champagne vinegar (optional)

DIRECTIONS

If you wish to roast the vegetables, preheat the oven to 450 degrees
Place the corn (husks and silk still attached) on a baking tray, along with the pepper, halved (open sides down)
Roast for 15-20 minutes
Remove husks from corn and then use a knife to remove the corn kernels from the cobs. You can press the back of the knife on the cobs to make sure to get all the corn goodness (scrapings)
Peel the pepper if desired and dice
In a medium frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium and add the onion
Cook the onion until soft and starting to brown
Add the corn and pepper and cook for a few minutes
Season generously with salt and pepper
Taste and add a small dash of champagne vinegar if needed for brightness

Cucumber Salad

2010-08-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

I love the sunomono at our local, now-sustainable sushi place and I tried to re-create it at home. The first time I made it this summer, I used the food processor to slice the cucumber, just because I already had it out. This time, I remembered that we actually have a mandoline that was given to us last Christmas. What a joy to use! The slices are wafer thin. As an added bonus, I'm taking the salad to the house of those who gifted us with the mandoline and will happily tell show them that it is used and appreciated.

I could eat piles of this salad every day in the summer, especially when it's hot.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 to 1 Asian cucumber (or any cucumber you like)
1/4 c. mirin
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP gomashio with seaweed (we have Eden organic) or
2 TBSP toasted sesame seeds ground in a mortar and pestle with 1-2 tsp salt or to taste

DIRECTIONS

Peel the cucumber in stripes, leaving a little of the dark green skin for contrast
Slice the cucumber very thinly using a knife, mandoline or food processor
In a flat-bottomed bowl or dish, mix the mirin, rice vinegar and salt. Taste and adjust ratio to your preference
Toss the sliced cucumber in the marinade until well coated (the object behind the flat-bottomed dish is that more of the slices will be in direct contact with the marinade)
Sprinkle generously with gomashio (you could also wait and do this right before serving)
You can serve right away, but it tastes best if left to marinade for an hour or more. The cucumber will get less crunchy, but it is still delicious that way

Cucumber Collins

2010-06-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

We are big fans of Pimms No. 1 cup and sparkling lemonade in our house during the summer, but we now have a rival in our affections. A local company called Dry Soda produces a cucumber soda. We thought we'd see what it was like to mix it with gin and lime. Success! I am pretty sure it's the first cocktail I've ever invented. It's less sweet than Pimms, but just as satisfying as a thirst quencher. We've been trying to figure out a good name for it and Cucumber Collins seemed somewhat appropriate as it involves gin and a type of soda. A traditional Tom Collins uses lemon, but we've opted for lime. We also like to serve it in Tom Collins glasses, in particular these very 70s glasses that my parents were shocked I wanted to adopt when they decided to downsize. I have very fond memories of these glasses and always have an internal laugh whenever I use them for guests. If I can combine it with the similarly-styled chip and dip bowl, all the better.

If you can't get cucumber soda, I guess you could try making your own--maybe even making a kind of cucumber simple syrup. I'm glad I don't have to go to such effort.

INGREDIENTS
Ice
1 shot gin
Juice of half a lime
1/2 bottle of cucumber soda

DIRECTIONS

Take a Tom Collins glass or other tall, straight-sided glass, and fill halfway with ice
Add a shot of gin to the glass
Squeeze in the juice of half a lime
Fill to near the top with cucumber soda
Give a stir and serve, garnishing with cucumber or lime, if desired

Cold Sesame Noodles with Grilled Tofu and Asparagus

2010-04-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

We've had a fantastic time the last week or so, catching up with visiting friends and then visiting in our turn. Today was our down-time day and we managed somehow to rest well and to get a lot done. Bliss. It was also our first opportunity to break out the Weber Q and eat outside.

Canales Farm comes to our farmers' market in late summer with gorgeous watermelons, and in Spring with asparagus. I've never been a huge fan of asparagus, but when it's this fresh and tender, even I have a hard time resisting. This year is the first one that Elspeth has really decided she's a fan. (I got a big kick out of her eating an adult-sized pile of them and calling them 'fat minnows', quoting Beatrix Potter's Jeremy Fisher).

The sesame noodles recipe comes straight from Cook's Illustrated September/October 2004, though we doubled the recipe and will freeze any leftovers.

The marinade for the tofu comes from our friend Melanie. I've never had much success with tofu marinades, but this one will be repeated. It's very simple and I'm sure we'll change it over time, but it is nicely salted and I think that the nutritional yeast adds just the right savory note. The tofu could also be baked if you don't want to use the grill. After the tofu had finished marinating, we rolled the asparagus in the sauce and it worked very well. That's the nice thing about using a vegetarian protein source--the marinade isn't contaminated.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SESAME NOODLES
1/2 c. sesame seeds
1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter (we like Woodstock Farms)
4 cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press
2 TBSP minced fresh ginger (the ginger made it a little too spicy-hot for our toddler, so I'd reduce in future)
10 TBSP soy sauce
4 TBSP rice vinegar
2 tsp hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)--we omitted
4 TBSP packed light brown sugar
Some hot water
2 TBSP toasted sesame oil
8 scallions , sliced thin on diagonal
4 medium carrots, grated
Enough Asian noodles (we used Trader Joe's udon noodles) for your family

DIRECTIONS

The sauce can be made as much ahead a time as you wish, which is handy. Toast sesame seeds in a skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Set aside 1 TBSP for garnish
In a blender, process the remaining sesame seeds, the peanut butter, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, and sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds.
With the blender running, add 1 TBSP of hot water at a time until the sauce has the consistency of heavy cream (about 5 TBSP)
Set sauce aside
Set a pot of water to boil when you are getting ready to cook the tofu and asparagus
Once it's boiling, add some salt and follow the package directions to cook the noodles
When done, drain the noodles and run under cold water until cool to the touch
Toss with the sesame oil
Use the reserved sesame seeds, the grated carrot and the scallion as a garnish. We used lots of extra carrots because we like them
Serve with grilled tofu and asparagus (below)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOFU/ASPARAGUS
One block firm tofu
1 one-pound bunch of asparagus, washed and snapped
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. olive oil
1 TBSP nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic, grated or put through a press
1/2 tsp curry powder or other spice
2 TBSP sesame oil

DIRECTIONS

If you have time, you can drain the tofu and then press it to remove even more liquid. We didn't bother but still found that the tofu really took on the flavor of the marinade well
Cut the tofu into triangles or squares. I cut mine into 16 pieces
In a medium dish (8x8 works well), mix all the remaining ingredients (except the asparagus, of course)
Lay the tofu pieces in a single layer in the dish and then turn over so each side has touched the marinade
Leave the tofu for at least a few minutes, or even better, half an hour
Turn the tofu and let rest for another period of up to half an hour
If oven-baking the tofu, preheat the oven to anywhere between 400 and 450 degrees (this allows you to be flexible if you need to cook something else along with the tofu). If grilling, preheat the grill
Remove the tofu from the marinade and place in a single layer on a baking tray if using the oven, or put on the grill. Roll the prepared asparagus in the marinade and cook along with the tofu.
Bake the tofu for 30 minutes--if baking the asparagus, I think it wouldn't take that long--or cook on the grill, turning once or twice, until it has a nice crust and until the asparagus is cooked
Serve alongside or on top of the sesame noodles

Improved Delicious, Crusty Bread

2010-03-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

I had no complaints about my Delicious, Crusty Bread recipe, and I still think it makes a damn fine loaf. However, I got a few tips from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois--the successor to their artisan bread book.

I learned two signficant things that changed my base recipe. One is that whole wheat flour is not 5 ounces to the cup, as I had been using. No, it's only 4.5 ounces per cup. That made a big change in my bread texture. The other is the use of wheat gluten to give a boost to a loaf that uses as much whole grain as I like to use. I had experimented with wheat gluten before, thanks to an old Alton Brown episode, but hadn't bothered to stick with it. While I think that a good largely whole grain loaf can be produced without extra wheat gluten, it does enhance the texture and give the dough more staying power in the fridge (since using the starter can make the dough more temperamental than when using yeast). I have made it a regular addition to my new everyday loaf.

I also switched up the order of the wet and dry ingredients, as Hertzberg and Francois do. I make sure to mix the warm water and starter together before adding to the flour, though, to ensure it's evenly distributed.

This same basic dough also works beautifully for bagels.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb 9 oz whole wheat flour
2.5 oz rye flour
7.5 oz all-purpose white flour
1/4 c. or 1 3/8 oz vital wheat gluten (it's a powder and I don't think you could buy an un-vital kind)
2 TBSP kosher or Maldon salt
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup sourdough starter (the batter-like kind)

DIRECTIONS

You'll need a clean 6 qt container that is not absolutely airtight. I use a Rubbermaid 'Servin' Saver' 6 qt square container and have been very happy with it
Put the container on your scale and zero it out
Add the flours, wheat gluten and salt each in turn, zeroing out the scale after every addition
Give the mixture a good whisk to distribute the gluten
In a large measuring cup, mix the warm water (be sure it's not too warm or it'll kill the starter) and the starter
Pour into the dry ingredients
Use a large wooden spoon to mix the flours into the water. You are not aiming to knead the dough and you should expect a pretty wet dough. After I mix as much as I can with the spoon, I went my hands and mix the dough with them until the flour is incorporated. Again, you're not kneading, you just don't want dry and wet patches
Place the lid on the container loosely and put the dough in the fridge for a day. Using the starter makes the rising take longer but the flavor is superb. You can speed things up slightly by leaving the dough out at room temperature for 8 hours.
You know your dough is active when you see air bubbles in it and it has risen. I almost never try to make a loaf until the next day

DOUGH PREPARATION

Grease a medium bowl (ideally with a flat bottom that doesn't slope too much--I use a large souffle dish that looks like an oversized ramekin). You can use oil, but I've started using cooking spray as it is so much easier than fiddling with a pastry brush or paper towels.
Then sprinkle cornmeal in the greased bowl and shake out the excess into the sink.
Remove the dough container from fridge and sprinkle with all-purpose flour
Grab a grapefruit-sized chunk of dough from the container
Working quickly, shape into a flattened ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you do this (that's nearly verbatim from the book but is still hard to explain until you've done it)
Place in the greased bowl

RISING DIRECTIONS
METHOD ONE--Cold rise all day
This method is great when you have a few minutes in the morning before leaving the house for a long time

Following the steps above, put the dough in the fridge for at least 6 hours and up to a day (or even two--we've been very lax about the baking and it's been fine). Go to BAKING steps below

METHOD TWO--Quick Rise
This method works well when you're pottering around the house and forgot to shape the loaf earlier. The whole-wheat gluten-enhanced loaf works particularly well with this quicker method.

Following the steps above, leave the dough out at room temperature for at least 1 1/2 hours. Go to BAKING steps below

BAKING DIRECTIONS

Thirty minutes before you want to bake the bread (but at least an hour before you want to eat the bread), preheat the oven to 450 degrees. You want the rack in the middle, preferably with a baking stone on it (hence the preheating for so long). A second rack should have a broiler tray or something that can hold water.
Boil 1 cup of water or have really hot water from the tap and have it ready by the oven.
Right before you want to put the bread in the oven, get out a baking peel. Sprinkle with cornmeal and turn the dough out onto it.
Alternative: turn dough out onto a baking tray with Silpat or baking parchment on it. The crust won't be as nice, but it's foolproof in terms of getting the loaf into the oven intact.
Sprinkle the dough with all-purpose flour and slash it a few times (in an X pattern or a # pattern--whatever seems appealing to you)
Working quickly, slide the loaf onto the hot baking stone and then put the hot water onto the broiler tray. The steam will help to create a crackling crust that will 'sing' at you when you remove from the oven. Close the oven.
Bake loaf for approximately 20-25 minutes or until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Depending on the size of your loaf, you may need to adjust baking time.
Allow to cool as long as possible before eating (we try to wait half an hour at least if we can--the internal texture is much nicer if you wait; if you rush it, it just gets gummy)
Serve and enjoy. We like it plain or with French cultured butter. I love buying local foods, but I have not found a US butter that can remotely compare with Celles Sur Belle French butter.

Gluten-Free Cornmeal Waffles

2010-03-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

We're hosting Easter brunch for the family next week and I was shopping around for a gluten-free waffle recipe that could rival Evan's Waffles. I wasn't that optimistic since his waffles are so fantastic, but I hit gold on the first try. These are light with a nice corn flavor and slight grit from the cornmeal.

The recipe is a slightly-tweaked version of this one from the Gluten-Free Gourmand, which is, in her turn, a tweaked version of the regular Joy of Cooking cornmeal waffle recipe. I used my go-to wheat flour substitute mixture adapted from Hey, that tastes good!, which is 2 c. brown rice flour, 2/3 c. potato starch, 1/3 c. tapioca. I immediately decreased the melted butter in the Gluten-Free Gourmand's recipe from 5 TBSP to 4. I mean, really, five would have been overkill. While my husband loves the sweetness in these waffles that comes from the 1/4 of sugar, I think I'd be even happier with 2-3 TBSP instead.

When pulling the first waffle off the iron, I was dubious. It had a sheen to it, almost like it was wet. I thought it would be limp and mushy. Not at all. I let it rest a moment on a cooling rack and then bit into it. There was a slight crunch and a delightfully airy texture along with that cornmeal grit. We have a winner! I'll be proud to serve these to family.

The waffles do soften when left at room temperature, but they're not bad this way, as evidenced by the fact that Evan and I have been picking at them for hours.

One note to the reader--too much time in the UK had me confused when I saw the call for corn flour. While in the UK, this term is interchangeable with cornstarch, I had to look it up to make sure that here in the US there is a big difference. Corn flour is more like masa harina and is key to enhancing the corn flavor in the waffles without making it like eating sand.

INGREDIENTS
1 c. gluten-free flour mixture (see above or use your own)
1/2 c. corn flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
2-4 TBSP sugar
2 eggs, separated
Pinch of cream of tartar
2 c. milk
4 TBSP butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your waffle iron according to instructions
Mix dry ingredients (from flour mix through sugar) in a large bowl
Put the 2 egg whites in a small bowl and add the pinch of cream of tartar
Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then set aside
Mix the milk and egg yolks together (I did this in the large measuring cup I used for the milk)
Pour the egg and milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir well
Stir in the melted butter
Fold the egg whites into the batter, doing about 1/3 of the whites at a time before adding the next dollop. Fold until there are no large streaks of egg white
Depending on the size of your waffle iron, put about 1/2 c. of batter on the hot iron
Cook until most of the steam has dissipated. I put our waffle iron on the highest setting--you want the waffles to be a deep golden brown to maximize crispness
Remove from iron and set on a cooling rack. If you need to keep them warm, put the rack in a 250 degree F oven
Serve with syrup, jam or other toppings

Lentil Barley Soup with Italian Sausage

2010-03-21T18:14:00.001-07:00

This is rather a cheat, as I've simply updated an existing recipe, but I would hate for March to go by with no posts!

Our preschool is a maternity ward this year, with lots of second-time-around parents who are happily accepting meals from their cohorts. This time, the family I'm feeding is not vegetarian so
I decided to try something different with my standby Hearty Lentil Soup. We had some sweet chicken Italian Sausage from the farmers' market. I browned that up and then proceeded with the recipe as written. For my grain, I did one pot with brown rice and the other with pearl barley. As a unifying touch, I crushed up about 1 tsp of fennel seeds and added when the soup was done--to echo the flavors in the Italian sausage. I also put in a teaspoon or two of sherry vinegar for brightness. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and will definitely try this variation again.

For convenience, I used the food processor for the onion, carrots and greens.
Because I dislike recipes that refer to other recipes, I'm re-posting the whole recipe again with the new ingredients.

INGREDIENTS
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 to 1 lb bulk sweet or hot Italian sausage (as opposed to links)
2 cups onion, finely chopped
2 TBSP tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 garlic cloves, chopped or put through a press
3 carrots, diced
1 cup diced celery or celery root (celeriac)
2 tsp salt
1 cup French (Puy) lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 cup brown rice or barley (quinoa might work, or kasha could be really good if you like it--I've discovered that I don't; I think it tastes dusty)
1 bouquet garni of 2 bay leave, 8 parsley branches (I often omit these), 6 thyme sprigs
9-12 cups water or vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1 bunch greens, washed and chopped
1-2 tsp sherry, balsamic or red wine vinegar or to taste (optional)
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed fennel seeds or ground fennel
Mushroom soy sauce to taste (we got our at 99 Ranch Market, but I'm sure regular soy would work; I bet that some brewer's yeast might be nice, too, actually)

DIRECTIONS

In a large soup pot, heat the oil and add the Italian sausage. Cook over medium- high heat (I think I do medium-high) until the sausage is no longer raw.
Add the onions and continue cooking until the onion is soft and slightly browned, stirring often, about 10 minutes. The onions should be slightly browned.
Add the tomato paste, garlic, parsley, vegetables and salt and cook for 2 more minutes
Add the lentils, bouquet garni, rice, barely, quinoa or kasha and water/stock. Because I recommend that you add the grain uncooked instead of adding cooked pasta, you may need to increase the amount of water/stock. My general rule is to add water to cover the ingredients by 1-2 inches. You can always add more water/stock if it seems that the grain doesn't have enough liquid to soften
Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Madison recommends cooking for 30 minutes, but your grain may take longer--the barley certainly will. The good news is that Puy lentils hold their shape beautifully and won't disintegrate even with a longer cooking time. If using a grain, I'd recommend checking for tenderness at 30 minutes and then add time accordingly.
When the grain is nearly done, taste for seasoning. Add the ground fennel and then salt, pepper and vinegar as needed. You could also add some mushroom or regular soy sauce or brewer's yeast. Madison cautions that the flavors will meld and get nicer over time--the soup tastes better the next day.
Add the washed, chopped greens and let them cook for 10 minutes or so. They might not be as bright green, but it saves a step and a pot and has always worked well for me.
Serve with Delicious, Crusty Bread or Drop Biscuits

Crêpes

2010-02-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

It's Pancake Tuesday, aka Shrove Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras today. I had never heard of such a thing as eating pancakes to mark the occasion until I lived in the UK. I did a semester abroad just outside of London in 1993 and my host mother was a wonderful cook. She introduced me to homestyle French cooking and the concept of eating a three-course meal even on an ordinary night. I learned to make béchamel from her and how to eat pancakes the Tuesday before Lent.

I also learned that it is possible for a married couple to huck mini mince pies at each other at the dinner table on occasion with no hard feelings, which was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I've stayed friends with Sue and Tony for well over 15 years now and they came to my wedding.

So, in honor of Sue, I post a pancake recipe. That was another surprise, of course--British pancakes are nothing like American pancakes. What's more, when I got to Scotland I learned that flapjack is also something else again entirely. (Note to self: refrain from making comment about being divided by common language now). Though there may be some minute differences, to my palate, British pancakes are crêpes.

I use a recipe from Fanny Farmer and the only change I made was to use 100% whole wheat pastry flour. Much to my surprise, once I had it hot enough, my 6-inch enameled cast iron skillet worked beautifully for the crêpes. I served with huckleberry sauce for Evan and Elspeth, though I like mine with just a little sugar. Traditionally, you would serve with a squeeze of lemon and some icing/powdered/confectioners' sugar.

INGREDIENTS
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 TBSP butter, melted
More melted butter for brushing skillet (approx 1 TBSP)

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients in the blender and mix until well incorporated
Pour batter into a liquid measuring cup or some other container with a spout (this is my preferred method, anyway)
Let mixture sit, covered, at least 30 minutes
Heat a small skillet over medium heat until quite hot
Brush the skillet with melted butter
Lift the skillet in one hand and tip it to an angle
Pour a few tablespoons of batter onto the skillet, keep the skillet at the angle and use a circular motion to help distribute the crêpe batter evenly. If you have never done this before (or even if you have) it may take a few tries to get the motion down. In theory the crêpe should be very thin, but I never mind too much if some are a bit thick
Allow the crêpe to cook until set (a couple of minutes). You'll know that it's ready to flip when the sides pull away from the pan and the top of it no longer looks wet. You can use a spatula to flip up an edge; the bottom should be lightly brown
Turn the crêpe over. I like to loosen it with my spatula and then flip it by jerking the pan, but you can also just loosen and then use a spatula/your fingers to turn it over
Let cook for a minute or two on the other side. It will not get as uniformly golden as the first side. Instead, it will likely have some darker brown dots on it. No need to overcook
Remove crêpe from pan and set on a plate to warm while you cook the rest
Serve with the topping of your choice. Leftovers keep well in the fridge for a day or so, or freeze nicely

Cinnamon-Sugar Encrusted Popovers

2010-02-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

If you have a craving for something akin to a cinnamon-sugar doughnut or elephant ear but you don't want to do any deep frying, this is the recipe for you. I loved David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris and started following his blog. Recently he posted on Sugar-Crusted Popovers, which I am shamelessly re-posting here. This is a fantastic recipe to make with kids, as well. Though I know that Evan and Elspeth could have made a more complicated birthday dessert for me, this is the one I requested and I'm so glad I did. I see this recipe becoming a regular in our repertoire.

The only changes that I would make to the recipe based on Evan's and Elspeth's experience is that I would not bother melting nearly as much butter or making such a big bowl of cinnamon sugar. Neither can be reused after this application and our popovers were so well coated with both that I can't imagine needing more than half of what Lebovitz suggests. I also might even halve the recipe since it's tough for our family, despite being somewhat gourmande, to eat 9 popovers at a sitting and they are best the first day. Another option would be to make a full batch of batter but only cook half the popovers at a time. I think the batter would keep fine in the fridge for a day, covered tightly.

These popovers popped-over quite dramatically but then settled down nicely. The surprise is that when we ate them the day they were made, they had much more the texture and flavor of a doughnut than, say, a Dutch Baby. The second day (when we reheated in the toaster oven), they had a distinctly eggier flavor, which was also quite nice.

INGREDIENTS

For the Popovers
2 TBSP butter, melted
3 large eggs (Lebovitz suggests room temperature eggs but I'm pretty sure ours were cold; I have been known to bring eggs to room temp in a bowl of warm water)
1 c. whole milk (we had 2%)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 c. unbleached flour (we used white but would be interested to try whole wheat pastry flour)

For the cinnamon-sugar coating
1/3 c. evaporated cane juice/sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 TBSP melted butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 9 cups of a popover tin or muffin pan, ideally with butter but you could also use cooking spray. We coated ours even though it's silicone just to be safe
Put 2 TBSP melted butter, milk, eggs, salt and sugar in a blender and mix until combined
Add the flour and mix for about 10 seconds, just until smooth
Divide the batter among the 9 cups, filling each 1/2 to 2/3 full of batter
Bake 35 minutes or until popovers are a rich golden brown
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes until you can handle them without burning yourself
Meanwhile, mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl and get the melted butter ready
Set popovers on a cooling rack
Brush each popover with melted butter and then dredge in the cinnamon-sugar until well coated all over
Set back on the rack and cool (if you can manage to wait before diving in)

Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans

2010-02-14T16:54:00.001-08:00

I was quite proud of my made-up salad for family dinner and it was so simple to put together. As I had hoped, Clementine Aioli worked just great as a dressing. If you wish a slightly sharper dressing, add 1-2 tsp champagne vinegar. I'm not a huge goody-in-the-salad person, but if you are, I suspect there are lots of other things you could add in here to round it out further.

INGREDIENTS
1 bag young spinach, washed and spun
1/2 recipe Clementine Aioli or to taste
1/2 to 1 recipe Candied Pecans
1/2 c. dried tart cherries or cranberries

DIRECTIONS
Toss spinach with dressing, then toss again with pecans and cherries.

Candied Pecans

2010-02-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

Unusually, I was on salad duty for family dinner. I knew that I wanted to make a spinach salad because the spinach has been looking really great at the farmers' market. Other than that, I wasn't sure. Evan's mom makes a salad we all like that has nuts and a poppy seed dressing. I remembered having seen a candied nut recipe in Dana Jacobi's Natural Health Cookbook and thought that they might be nice with spinach. Her recipe calls for walnuts, but I thought pecans would be nicer for spinach. I recommend this recipe highly for its ease and tastiness, but be aware that the nuts stay quite sticky. If you prefer less-sticky nuts, you should probably use an equivalent amount of sugar and cook the whole thing on in a pan on the stove.

The possibilities are myriad in terms of the spices you add to the syrup.

INGREDIENTS
1 TBSP brown rice syrup or agave nectar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
1 c. pecans

DIRECTIONS

Mix first four ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl
Toast the pecans until they're golden (for us, a medium toast in toaster oven is perfect if using frozen pecans)
Toss the warm nuts into the syrup mixture and stir to coat
Spread the coated nuts onto a baking tray (preferably an oiled one or one with a silicone mat on it)
Store in an airtight container, though at our house these don't last long

Naan

2010-02-14T16:03:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of naan, and so far this is my favorite recipe. I tried using the recommended doughs in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day for both naan and pita and was disappointed in both. I don't think that cooking method alone is what makes these breads stand apart--I think that the doughs should differ from regular bread dough, too. This recipe is from The Dance of Spices by Laxmi Hiremath. All of her Indian bread recipes sound wonderful, but I haven't managed to try that many of them yet.

I don't make naan often, but it's not really that difficult. I suspect that you could make the dough and freeze it after its first rise. Most often I make it because I'm going to use it to top the Indian Vegetable Bake.

I simplify this recipe by omitting to brush the finished naan with ghee, but go ahead and do this if you like it. I also don't put any sesame, poppy or nigella seeds on the naan before baking, but I'm sure that would be tasty too. If you want to make garlic naan, she recommends mixing 2 TBSP minced garlic with salt and pepper and then putting a pinch of this mixture in the center of the dough ball before rolling it out.

It occurred to me that a fabulous use of the naan dough and that delicious stew-like concoction would be to make an Indian-inspired pasty. Roll out a standard-size piece of naan dough and put a few tablespoons of the stew into it. Then fold over and bake (I'm guessing 350 for 15 minutes as a start would be a good guess). I think it would make just about a perfect lunch.

INGREDIENTS
4 c. flour (I used half whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 c. plain yogurt (if using strained yogurt, you might need a bit of extra water)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 c. warm milk (not skim, she says, but I would guess I've used skim in the past)
6 TBSP warm water

DIRECTIONS

Place the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times
Add the yogurt, egg and oil and pulse until the mixture is crumbly
With the food processor running, slowly add the milk and then the water through the tube
Mix until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and forms a ball
Place the dough on a clean, floured surface. Coat your hands with oil and knead the dough for 6-8 minutes. For some reason, the last time I made this recipe, I really had to fight with my dough for the first 5 minutes or so and was worried that it wouldn't turn out well. Hiremath says that the dough should be neither stiff nor sticky and mine seemed to be both! I persevered, however, and the dough did become smoother and less sticky. In the end, I think it turned out just fine
Place dough in a large bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let rise 4-6 hours or until doubled. I put mine in the fridge for an overnight rise and then let it rest for a couple of hours at room temperature
Using oiled hands, lightly punch down dough and then divide it into 12 balls
Place the dough balls on an oiled baking tray (or one with a silicone mat on it). Let rest for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 500 degrees, preferably with a baking stone on the lower third of the oven
Roll each ball of dough into a 5 inch circle or oval (approx) and then lightly pull one side to form a teardrop (I didn't do that part)
Place several naan on a baking peel (I could get three on mine) and then lower carefully on the baking stone
Bake 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned. Some of the naan might puff dramatically
Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter or ghee, as desired

Indian Vegetable Bake with Naan Crust

2010-02-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

I did not intend to take such a long break from EATS! Life just gets away from me and I find myself making and re-making old favorites that I've already published or if I try something new I don't have the time to type it up.

However, this recipe is so tasty that even if it takes me several weeks to make this entry, I want to share it. I was a very short-lived contributor to a food blog at one point and reviewed Laxmi Hiremath's The Dance of Spices and tested her recipe for Fragrant Dum-Style Lamb. The major draw for this dish, to me, was the fact that you top it with naan dough and bake it. MMMMM. Indian pot pie! Or, as I suggested in the naan post, Indian pasties!

I took huge liberties with Hiremath's recipe in this most recent making, and they were a huge success. The header notes of her recipe say that it's filled with cauliflower, but no cauliflower appears in the ingredients. I added some and also added peas. I omitted the mushrooms as unnecessary. Probably the biggest change is that instead of using lamb, I used Quorn tenders instead. They were perfect. If you are a meat-eater, lamb would be nice, but you could also use chicken breast. If you are a vegetarian who shies away from fake meat, you could use chickpeas as a protein.

While this dish was wonderful with the naan topping, we felt it would be nearly as good as a topping for basmati rice cooked with a few cardamom pods.

Though there is a certain amount of chopping involved and using a naan crust makes it more labor-intensive, it ended up being a reasonable amount of effort. Play around with the vegetables and proportions of things. Spinach might be a really nice addition. Or you could increase the amount of cashews.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 c. vegetable oil, divided in two portions (I think I used less than this)
1 large onion, sliced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
3 large cloves garlic, put through a garlic press
1 cinnamon stick
6 whole cloves (she called for 10 but that seemed extreme to me)
4 allspice berries
6 green cardamom pods
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne (I used only about 1/8 tsp in deference to Elspeth)
1 package Quorn tenders
1/2 head cauliflower cut into small florets and pieces
3/4 c. peas (I used frozen)
1/4 c. carrots cut into rounds (1/2 c. or even 3/4 c. would be nice)
1 c. pureed tomatoes (I used canned and ended up using more like 1 1/4 cup)
1/4 c. plain yogurt (I used strained yogurt)
1/2 c. water
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 c. whole roasted cashews (or up to 1 cup)
1/4 recipe naan dough

DIRECTIONS

Heat 2 TBSP of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat
Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is nicely caramelized (12-15 minutes)
Remove the onions from the pan and puree them in a mini food processor or blender, then set aside
Add the remaining oil to the pan and add the ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes or until the paste starts to brown slightly
Add the whole spices and cook until they're plump, about a minute
Add the remaining spices and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds
Add the Quorn tenders and the onion paste and mix until the Quorn is well coated with onion-spice paste
Cook for 5-6 minutes, then add the pureed tomatoes. Continue cooking 6-8 minutes until the tomatoes have lost their raw smell
Add the vegetables and stir to coat them with the onion-spice-tomato mixture. Cook for a minute or so
Turn the heat to low and stir in the yogurt. Then add the water, salt, sugar and cashews. Simmer until the sauce is nice and thick, around 20 minutes (30-35 minutes if using raw meat)
While the stew is simmering, preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Take the 1/4 of naan dough and roll to the correct size and shape to cover your baking pan (9x13 Pyrex or a ceramic oval dish or the equivalent)
Place the fragrant stew mixture in the baking dish and cover with the naan dough
Bake until the naan is golden and the filling is bubbling, about 20 minutes
Serve with the remaining naan

Simple Chicken Vegetable Soup with Beans

2009-10-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

Sundays are often dedicated to figuring out my workday lunches and soup is my all time favorite portable, reheatable meal (carried in my beloved Glasslock dishes that fit perfectly into my old work-swag insulated lunchbox, but I'll spare readers the infomercial).

Today, instead of using a recipe, I decided just to throw some things together based on what we had in the house. I had made a big batch of chicken stock yesterday, so knew I could use that in my soup to add flavor. (I roasted the bones for the stock this time and was pleased at the depth it added to my very basic stock).

I had thought about adding some herbs or spices but couldn't decide which direction to go, so I cooked up the soup and decided to wait until later to spice it. Turns out, it was quite satisfying as it was.

I like to roast the chicken I'm going to use in my soup. Of course, in some ways it would be easier just to cook the raw chicken in the soup, but I like the guilty pleasure of eating the crispy skin and I like the flavor of roasted chicken better than poached.

We had some fresh cannellini beans from our CSA, so they didn't require any pre-soaking and cooked in about the same amount of time as the potatoes. If you don't have fresh shelling beans, I would recommend either using canned beans or using pre-cooked beans, as the soup itself doesn't need a long cooking time.

I like the body that pureeing soup brings, but I also wanted to enjoy the silky texture of the fresh beans, so I compromised. I removed about half of the vegetable and beans and pureed the remaining. Only then did I add the chicken pieces and the spinach.

INGREDIENTS
1 TBSP olive or vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 large cloves garlic, put through a press or minced
2 normal or 3 very small ribs celery, diced
2 normal or 4-5 very small carrots, diced
4 small to medium-sized red potatoes, diced
2 c. fresh cannellini beans, shelled and rinsed OR 1 can cooked cannellini or other white beans OR 2 c. pre-cooked white beans
6-8 c. chicken stock or water (or a combination--I used about 5 cups stock and 1-2 cups water)
1 TBSP salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 medium chicken breast, roasted and cut into bite-sized pieces
3-4 leaves spinach, washed and finely chopped
More salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oil in a 4 or 5 quart pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, until it starts to soften
Add the garlic and continue cooking a few more minutes
Add the celery and carrots and cook another minute or two
Stir in the potatoes and the beans (if using fresh--wait until later if using canned or pre-cooked)
Add the chicken stock/water and the salt and pepper
Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer
Cook the soup until the beans and potatoes are tender. If using canned or pre-cooked beans, add them now
Remove half of the vegetables/beans from the pot and puree the rest of the soup (ideally with an immersion blender)
Put the vegetables and beans back into the pot and add the chicken and spinach
Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. The soup as I made it is very gentle and comforting, but it could easily be made more assertive with red pepper flakes, thyme, coriander, smoked paprika or wherever your imagination takes you

Squash Gingerbread Waffles

2009-10-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to my friend Rebecca (who will always be 'Becky' to me, I'm afraid), for this recipe. She found it on a message board somewhere, but we have no original source for attribution. She made some alterations and then I made a (very) few of my own.

I have a working oven again (heavens be praised), and we'd been accumulating winter squashes from our CSA, so I roasted up a big batch and made a mixed puree of butternut, acorn and kabucha (or delicata). I'd been hankering to try this recipe and found time to do so this morning. Elspeth was my kitchen helper and between the two of us it didn't take much effort to whip up a batch. The recipe makes lots of waffles and they're more filling than Evan's Waffles, so you can freeze the leftovers and enjoy them on cold winter mornings.

We ate them plain, but I think they would also be tasty with pear-clove sauce.

I used homemade roasted, pureed squash, but of course you could also use canned pumpkin.

INGREDIENTS
3 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 TBSP baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1/3 c. maple syrup
1 c. squash or pumpkin puree
1 1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. molasses
1/2 c. vegetable or coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat waffle iron
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients and set aside
Beat eggs and maple syrup until fluffy, then beat in pumpkin, milk, molasses and oil
Stir the wet mixture into dry ingredients in the large bowl until just moist. Do not over-stir
Add a large spoonful of batter to the waffle iron and cook according to your waffle iron's specifications
Top with your favorite waffle toppings

French Lentil Soup

2009-10-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm working outside the home again, and at a location where there are no restaurants, I have to dust off my lunch-making skills. I can't remember what made me think of this lentil soup recipe because I haven't made it in years, but I'm glad I was reminded. It comes from the first French cookbook I ever owned, Jacques Burdick's French Cooking En Famille. It was a gift from my new dorm friends my first year of university. There are a lot of good recipes in this book, though I don't find myself making them often.

This recipe is the first one I ever saw that used orange peel in a savory dish. Likewise, I had never heard of spiking an onion with cloves. Both transform a soup that could be ordinary into something unique (at least to my palate). I love seeing how subtle changes in ingredients can make such a remarkable difference to a dish. For example, so many soup recipes start with onion, garlic, celery, carrot, parsley, thyme and bay leaf. This one omits the celery and parsley (and of course adds the aforementioned clove-spiked onion and orange peel, as well as some rosemary). The resulting soups taste quite a bit different. It is convenient for me that it doesn't call for celery, as this is one of the vegetables we don't see as often at our farmers' market and that I don't have around all the time. (Though of course this week we did get celery in our basket!) Our parsley, on the other hand, is the biggest herb in our garden.

I mostly follow this recipe as written, though I do tend to omit the milk. I also use French Puy lentils rather than the brown ones he calls for. Since I more often have onions on hand than leeks, I took a large onion and halved it. I diced one half to replace the leek and spiked the other half with the cloves. Burdick says that you should slice all the vegetables thinly, but I diced them since that was easier for me. As the soup is going to be pureed anyway, I didn't think it mattered.

Burdick notes that it's easy to omit the bacon to make a vegetarian or even vegan version (called à l'ancienne). Use olive oil instead of butter for the vegan option.

I'd love to serve this with my crusty bread, but alas am still without an oven. We have high hopes that we'll have a working oven again in a couple of weeks.

INGREDIENTS
2 c. brown or French green (Puy) lentils, picked over and rinsed
Water to cover
2 TBSP butter (or olive oil)
2 slices thick-cut bacon or 3 strips regular-cut cut crosswise into lardons, optional
2 medium carrots, diced or thinly sliced
2 medium leeks, white parts only, diced or thinly sliced OR
1/2 large onion, diced
2 plump cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium OR 1/2 large onion, spiked with three whole cloves
1 bouquet garni, tied up with string, consisting of: 2 inch piece of dried orange peel (mine was fresh), 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig thyme, 1 sprig rosemary
2 quarts water
2 c. milk (preferably not nonfat), optional
Butter or olive oil to swirl in soup, optional

DIRECTIONS

Place the rinsed and picked over lentils in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let soak for one hour. If you don't have time for this step, you can skip it, though my guru Deborah Madison does feel that it makes the lentils more flavorful
Start prepping the other ingredients while the lentils soak
Heat the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over low-medium heat
Add the diced onion/leek, garlic, carrots, and bacon and cook over gentle heat until they are translucent but not browned
Drain the lentils and rinse them. Then add them to the pot along with the spiked onion, bouquet garni and 2 quarts of cold (fresh) water
Turn up the heat to bring the soup to a boil, skimming off any scum for the first five minutes (in my laziness, I often do not skim, I admit it)
Turn the heat down to low and simmer the soup, covered, for 1 hour 45 minutes
Remove the bouquet garni and the spiked onion and puree the soup (I use my immersion blender but you can transfer carefully to a blender if you have to)
Return to the pot and taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as needed
Add the milk, if using, and bring the mixture just to a boil then immediately turn off the heat
Taste one more time for seasoning and adjust as necessary
Serve with a swirl of butter or olive oil as desired

Beef Zap Zap Soup

2009-10-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

This recipe has a very special place in my heart. Up on Queen Anne, there used to be an annex of the Orrapin Thai restaurant that served a dish called Beef Zap Zap soup. This stuff was heaven in a bowl, the perfect cure for any ailment. One of my most memorable experiences with this soup was the day after my 30th birthday party. I'd stayed up talking with Evan until 5am (and yet still wasn't sure if he fancied me) and had a progressive hangover--the kind that worsens as the day goes on. Jenn and I headed to the noodle house for some restorative zap zap. The next day, I got the email from Evan asking me out on our first date and we've been together ever since.

I was horrified when Orrapin decided to rethink their annex and removed zap zap from the menu. At that time, I had not yet had pho, so I didn't know that it would be a good approximation. I went online and discovered the recipe that would become the basis for a homemade zap zap. Of course, I now have no idea of my original source. I made some modifications based on the kinds of ingredients I find easy to obtain. It's not worth it to me to keep around recipes that require trips to far-flung reaches of the city for ingredients. In addition, I omitted the pepper flakes to allow each person to spice up the meal individually.

We had some beef soup bones in the freezer from the cow share we participated in earlier this year, so I made up my own stock to infuse with zap zap goodness. In previous years, I had started with storebought stock and it does work fine, just be careful about the salty ingredients you add--keep tasting for balance. Because I made my own stock, I had 4.5 quarts of it to work with. I infused the whole lot and will love having some pre-infused broth on hand in the freezer for cold winter nights.

I didn't use to make the soup with all that many vegetables, but we try to pack as many veggies as we can into every meal these days, so I suggested carrots and greens as possibilities. For little ones or anybody who has trouble slurping up rice noodles, I think that you could get away with stirring in some cooked brown rice as a substitute.

If you don't wish to use steak in the soup, you could also add cooked chicken or tofu.

INGREDIENTS FOR BROTH
4.5 qt beef stock (I used homemade unsalted)
2 stalks lemongrass, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 star anise
8 cloves garlic, smashed
4 kaffir lime leaves (I suspect mine were just regular lime, but they were at the store, so I bought them)
2-inch piece of ginger cut into 1/2 inch pieces (if you've got access to galangal, use that)
1 TBSP chopped cilantro (I used those nifty frozen cubes from Trader Joe's) or to taste
4 TBSP dark soy sauce
1 TBSP light soy sauce
2 TBSP fish sauce
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP dark brown sugar or to taste
(2 tsp red pepper flakes optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients in a large pot and simmer for 20-60 minutes
Strain out the spices
If not using immediately, quickly cool to a safe temperature before refrigerating or freezing
If ready to eat, place some broth in a large bowl and add any of the following

BROTH ADDITIONS
Rice stick noodles softened in warm water or in some broth
Bean sprouts (blanched)
Very thinly cut steak either pre-blanched or cooked in very hot beef broth
Cooked chicken
Tofu
Grated carrots
Finely chopped or processed greens or cabbage (Bok choy would be particularly nice, I think)
Thai basil, chopped
Jalapeno peppers to taste (optional)

Moroccan-Inspired Couscous

2009-09-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

I lived in Paris in 1998-99 and for a while was friends with a crazy New Zealander. Though the friendship later fell apart, I have many times mentally thanked her for sharing her couscous recipe with me. I love to make it in the fall and winter when there is a chill in the air, often accompanied by a dollop of harissa (or sriracha sauce if that's what you've got around).

The Moroccan-inspired bit refers to North African traditional couscous, a fragrant stew ladled on top of the grains. This kind of couscous has been widely adopted by the French and I was also lucky enough to have couscous in Morocco (where I was offered 5,000 camels for my hand in marriage, but that's another story). I admit to using boxed instant couscous, as I can't imagine taking the time to find non-instant and then steam it multiple times. Trader Joe's whole wheat couscous fits the bill for us.

I am a bit superstitious about this recipe, for some reason. While I often like to play fast and loose with my cooking, adding or subtracting ingredients based on what I've got on hand, I always make this dish with the same vegetables and spices. I always used to cut everything into batons, but took a wild chance today and diced everything and it was much easier to eat! Don't let my weirdness influence you, though, and feel free to experiment with vegetables and spices. The saffron and the fennel seeds are what really make the flavor of this dish stand out for me, so I'd recommend trying it with them the first time before making any spicing changes.

Eating this meal without meat is easy and satisfying. However, we do love it with some merguez dotted on top. Uli's Sausage in the Pike Place Market makes an excellent version that Evan home-smokes to wonderful effect. Merguez is very spicy, though, which means it's not particularly toddler-friendly. Spanish (dry) chorizo added a nice smokiness to the meal and worked well as a substitute.

The trick with this recipe, as I've cautioned with several others, too, is not to add too much water. You don't want a limp-tasting broth. I'm going to try to be more systematic than usual and give a better idea of a good ration of veg-to-spice-to-water. The broth and vegetable mixture freezes reasonably well, though the potatoes will never be quite as nice a texture after a thaw.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp cayenne (optional)
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 large pinch saffron plus a few tablespoons of boiling water
1 medium onion or 1/2 a giant onion, diced
2 medium potatoes (I used red potatoes), diced
4 small carrots, diced (I used 1/4 lb carrots)
1 small zucchini, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 red, orange, or yellow sweet pepper, diced
2 c. cooked chickpeas (I soaked and cooked 1 c. dry chickpeas) OR
1-2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 c. water
Salt to taste
Whole wheat couscous, prepared according to the package
Cooked merguez or dry chorizo (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Toast all of the spices except the saffon in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant
Put the saffron in a small bowl and pour over some boiling water to help it bloom. Set aside
Placed the diced onion, potatoes and carrots into a large saucepan and add 6 cups water
Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and add the toasted spices and some salt
Cook for about 20 minutes and then add the remaining vegetables and the chickpeas
Continue cooking until the vegetables are very soft and the broth starts to look integrated
Add the saffron and its water and taste. Adjust seasonings (you may wish to add a bit more of all the spices or more salt)
Serve over whole wheat couscous with some harissa and/or merguez or chorizo

Applesauce Oat Pancakes with Raisins

2009-09-28T09:51:00.002-07:00

The Oat Blueberry Banana Pancakes have been a favorite in our house for quite a while now. I will freeze bananas that have gone past their prime if I'm not quite ready to make up a batch of pancakes or smoothie, so that I can whip them up whenever they're requested.

However, I wanted something more. One of Elspeth's favorite books is Rosemary Wells' Voyage to the Bunny Planet. Evan and I are big fans, as well. Our favorite story of the three is 'The Island Light', where the dad and Felix 'mix up an apple pancake batter/ Singing while the shutters clatter'. There is a photo on the title page of the story showing the apple pancakes and Elspeth has wanted to 'get them out' on several occasions. In looking around for an apple pancake batter, I came across either the Dutch Baby-type of pancake with apples, or a griddle pancake with grated apple in it. Neither of these quite fit my idea. I'm not convinced that the grated apple would cook to a nice texture in the time it takes to cook the rest of the pancake, and I wanted a griddlecake that would make good leftovers. I definitely wanted to use applesauce as opposed to apple pieces. I also just happen to have sauced up some organic Honeycrisp apple with a bit of cinnamon stick and no sugar.

Suddenly last night (while I was supposed to be meditating, but that's another story), it occurred to me that the oat banana blueberry recipe was a great starting point for an apple pancake batter. I had been thinking that a whole wheat or bran pancake would be nice with applesauce, so it wasn't a huge leap to a combination with oats, flax and almond meal. Another of Elspeth's favorite treats is raisins, so I thought they would make a good addition instead of blueberries.

The texture of these pancakes differs from the banana version, I'm guessing because of the pectin in the apples. I did let the batter sit for 5 minutes before cooking, and it became quite airy in that time. Next time, I might be tempted to add an extra quarter cup of milk to make it easier to drop them onto the griddle. Other than that, the adaptation was a success. They were light and had a definite apple flavor and just the right amount of sweetness. I think the pancakes would also be good with pear-clove sauce and dried tart cherries. You can eat them plain or with more apple- or pear- sauce on top.

I've now doubled the recipe, as I always make that amount and freeze any extras for quick school-morning breakfasts.

INGREDIENTS
2 c. rolled oats
1 c. ground almonds (almond meal)
1/2 c. ground flaxseed
2 TBSP brown sugar
Dash of cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger, if desired
1 c. raisins or dried tart cherries
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine salt (as opposed to kosher or coarse salt)
2 1/2 to 3 c. milk
1 c. unsweetened applesauce or pear sauce
4 TBSP melted coconut oil plus more for the griddle

DIRECTIONS

Make a flour out of the rolled oat by grinding in a coffee grinder or other such device
Combine oat flour, ground almonds, ground flaxseed, brown sugar, raisins or dried cherries, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl. (Adding the raisins to the dry ingredients will help keep them from sticking together in large clumps)
In a separate bowl, combine the milk and applesauce or pear sauce
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix until just moistened
Add the melted coconut oil and raisins
Let batter sit for 5 minutes and then add up to 1/4 c. more milk if the batter is too thick to drop onto the griddle/skillet easily
Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-low heat
Brush with coconut or other neutral oil and ladle the batter onto the skillet or griddle (no more than 1/2 c. per pancake, smaller if little tykes will be eating them; the second time I made these, I used a 1/8 c. measure). Make sure to spread the batter out well, even if it's very liquidy. I have great success using a portion scoop to get the batter onto the griddle and then I flatten slightly
Cook for a few minutes on the first side. You can tell they're getting done in a similar way to traditional pancakes. You won't see bubbles forming, but the sides of the pancakes will start looking a little dry. If you're worried, lift up a corner to see if it's your desired brownness
Flip the pancakes and cook for an additional few minutes. Remove to a warming plate or serve
Brush the griddle or skillet with a bit more oil and continue with the next round
If you want to freeze leftovers, freeze them on a baking tray first, then transfer them to a zipper-lock bag or other freezer container

Nectarine Freezer Jam

2009-09-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to test out Pomona pectin for quite a while now. It's a type of pectin that allows the cook to use even less sugar than regular pectin and would also allow for the use of alternative sweeteners such as agave nectar, honey, fruit juice, or stevia (shudder). There is an extra step because you have to mix up and add some calcium water, but it's not a big deal at all.

I've also never tried my hand at any kind of jam before, and thought that freezer jam would be a good place to start. I just don't want to mess with the boiling and the worry about safety.

It was the last week of RAMA farm nectarines and it seemed a good way to hold onto a bit of summer by transforming them into jam. Elspeth and Evan were asking to eat it from a spoon, so I'd say the end result is worthwhile.

I didn't stray from the recipe and directions offered on the Pomona pectin package. Though I had intended a no-cook freezer jam, Pomona recommends a brief cooking of peaches (and nectarines, I extrapolated), so I did that. I chose evaporated cane juice as my sweetener, figuring I can branch out to more exotic sweeteners next time if I so choose.

The Pomona pectin is highly effective, so on future occasions, I'd rein in the amount of calcium water I add.

INGREDIENTS
1 package Pomona pectin
4 cups nectarines, lightly mashed (I admit, I put slices in the food processor and pulsed to create a rather irregular texture that I think works just fine. The option recommended elsewhere was to use a pastry cutter, which I would have done if I owned one)
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 1/4 c. evaporated cane juice sugar
3/4 c. boiling water

DIRECTIONS

Prepare 5-6 one-cup glass jars with lids (they don't need to be sterilized, but they should be very clean)
Follow the Pomona pectin package instructions for making up the calcium water
Place the nectarine mixture in a saucepan and heat until boiling, then boil for 2 minutes
Pour this into a large bowl and let it cool
Once it has cooled, add the lemon juice and sugar, stirring well
Boil the water and then add it to the food processor you used for the nectarines, or a blender
To the water, add 4 tsp Pomona pectin powder (or whatever it says on the package), and then process/blend until the powder is dissolved
Stir pectin mixture into nectarines, making sure it is well mixed
Add 4 teaspoons of calcium water, stirring well. Gel should begin to form on the sides of the bowl--I would recognize this better a second time around. If you aren't seeing gel, you can add up to 8 tsp more of the calcium water, one teaspoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Only add as much calcium water as you need for a somewhat loose jelly
Pour the nectarine jam into your prepared glass jars and freeze until solid
Freezer jam should be kept in the freezer until you want to use a jar. After opening, it can keep up to a week in the fridge

Potato Allium Soup

2009-09-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

This was originally a potato leek soup, but I more often have onions around, so adapted the recipe for that. I've always loved this simple soup, particularly as the weather starts to turn colder. It's very adaptable to whatever you've got on hand. You could try adding some turnips, or carrots or other root vegetables. You could make a vegetarian version by omitting the bacon and maybe substituting some (surprise!) smoked paprika. I had a small number of freshly-shelled cranberry beans on hand, so I threw those in this time. I also think it would be tasty with finely-ground greens.

As with nearly all my potato recipes, the key to this one is the freshly-grated nutmeg. The original inspiration for the soup was from Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking but by now I've stopped consulting it and just throwing in whatever quantities of stuff I have on hand. I just do my best not to add too much water because watery potato soup is not very appetizing.

INGREDIENTS
1 TBSP olive oil
2 slices good quality pepper bacon, cut crosswise into lardons
1 large onion, finely chopped (I use my food processor) OR
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned and cut into half moons
2 lbs potatoes (this is a total guess on quantity. I had a net bag of small yukon golds plus four or so slightly larger ones that had come in our CSA) washed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Freshly-grated nutmeg
1-2 c. cooked white beans (optional)
1 bunch finely ground or chopped greens (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Water to cover
Champagne vinegar to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a 5 quart saucepan over medium heat and add the bacon
Cook until the bacon starts rendering fat and is lightly browned
Add the chopped onion and continue cooking until the onion is very soft
Grate in a bunch of nutmeg and stir
Add the potatoes (Elspeth had a whale of a time throwing them into the pot I'd removed from the stove) and stir
Add enough water just to cover the potatoes; it's better to add to little than too much
Bring the soup to a boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer
Simmer until the potatoes are very soft
Using a stick- or free-standing blender, puree the soup until it is very smooth
Taste and adjust the seasonings
Now add the beans and/or greens, if using, and cook a few more minutes
Adjust seasonings a final time and add some champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar) if the soup could use a little punch
Serve with some crusty bread or with a garlic crouton floating on top

Fruit-Heaped, Nut-Crusted Yogurt Tart

2009-09-13T14:29:00.001-07:00

It was family dinner time again, and I needed to come up with a festive dessert that didn't contain any gluten. Though I do want to see if it's possible to make a decent gluten-free cake that isn't full of scary ingredients, my mind does go quickly to pies and tarts as good options.

We have been reveling in the late-summer bounty of wild huckleberries and RAMA farm nectarines, so I decided to make a dessert featuring both. I turned to a tart I made a few years ago but haven't had a chance to make since. It's her Brown Sugar Yogurt Tart in a Nut Crust. I used her recipes as they are written, except that I substitute the Rice Flour Mix explained in my previous gluten-free tart crust recipe for the wheat flour. I also did several steps in the food processor that she described doing by hand.

I made the tart and then heaped it high with huckleberries and presented it with sliced nectarines on the plate. My only gripe about the gluten-free version of the crust is that it's very crumbly, making cutting slightly difficult. It's not too bad, though, once you get the hang of it.

INGREDIENTS NUT CRUST
1/4 c. each whole almonds and pecans
3/4 c. rice flour mix (or wheat flour)
1/4 tsp salt
3 TBSP light brown sugar
5 TBSP butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract mixed with 2 TBSP water

DIRECTIONS NUT CRUST

Toast the whole almonds and pecans until lightly browned and then cool
Process half the nuts until they form a fine powder; chop the other half of the nuts coarsely
Put the fine nut powder, rice flour mix, salt, and light brown sugar into a food processor and pulse to combine
Spread the butter pieces around the food processor bowl and then pulse the mixture until it forms pea-sized balls
Dump the mixture into a large bowl and stir in the coarsely-chopped nuts
Now add the vanilla water a little at a time, using your hands to bring the dough together
Pat the dough evenly into a tart pan (I always use a metal one with a removable bottom), pressing it with your hands or with the bottom of a glass or bowl and building it up the sides. I had good success with the bottom of the glass custard cup I used for the vanilla water. I always make the crust come up slightly higher than the sides of the pan in case of shrinkage
Once the tart crust is pressed into the pan, keep it in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to use. You'll want it to chill for at least 30 minutes before baking

INGREDIENTS YOGURT TART
1 1/4 c. drained yogurt
2 eggs
3 TBSP butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 c. dark brown sugar
2 TBSP rice flour mix (or wheat flour)

2 c. fresh huckleberries or blueberries (optional)
3 nectarines or peaches, sliced (optional)

DIRECTIONS YOGURT TART

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Place the tart crust on a baking tray
Mix together all of the ingredients except the flour and fruit in a medium bowl
Stir in the flour (leaving the fruit for garnish)
Pour the mixture into the tart crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the tart is set and browned
Once the tart has cooled or when you are ready to serve it, pile on the huckleberries and add some nectarine slices to each portion

Southwest Shepherd's Pie

2009-08-31T10:58:00.001-07:00

After speculating that one could use the taco filling recipe to make a kind of Tamale Pie, I just had to test it out! Elspeth isn't keen on tortillas but loves Shepherd's Pie, so I thought she might really enjoy a Southwest version of it. I don't really like the name Tamale Pie (what does it mean?), so opted to focus on its relationship to Shepherd's Pie.

I went to my trusty Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, figuring she must have a cornbread recipe, and she did. I halved the recipe and spread it over an 8 inch square Pyrex pan about 2/3 full of taco filling. Sadly, I'm still without a regular oven (long story), so I had to adapt for the toaster oven. Madison wants you to bake the cornbread at 425 degrees, but I put the toaster oven on 400 and reduced the cooking time to 20 minutes. About halfway through, I needed to cover the pie with foil, as the proximity to the burners in the toaster oven was over-browning the cornbread.

We were very pleased with the end result and will definitely be making this again.

INGREDIENTS
1 recipe Taco Filling
1/2 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c. milk
1 egg
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 1/2 TBSP agave nectar (or honey or sugar)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat a full-size oven to 425 degrees or a toaster oven to 400 degrees
Firmly pack the taco filling to fill an 8 inch square pan to about 2/3, then butter the remaining top 1/3 of the dish
Whisk together the dry ingredients for the cornbread in a small bowl and make a well in it
Measure the milk into a 2 cup liquid measuring cup then add the remaining ingredients to the cup and whisk together
Pour the wet ingredients into the well of dry ingredients
Stir until the batter just comes together
Spread the batter over the taco filling quickly and place in the oven
Set the timer for 10 minutes to start if using a toaster oven, then check to see if you need to cover with foil. If using a regular oven, start with 20 minutes
Take the southwest shepherd's pie from the oven when the cornbread is cooked-through and lightly browned and the filling is bubbling

Taco Filling for Health Foodies

2009-08-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

I grew up eating a lot of ground beef hard shell tacos. In fact, I didn't know that other kinds of tacos existed until I was well into my 20s. Once I discovered more traditional Mexican tacos, I sought them out and ate them with delight. However, there is a place in my heart and stomach for the tacos of my youth, at least a healthified version of them.

I recently had the pleasure of picking up delicious Mexican tacos and handmade corn tortillas from a restaurant called La Tarasca in Centralia. My husband and I will always plan our drives to and from Portland based on visits to La Tarasca.

I thought it might be nice to fill those fabulous tortillas with my taco filling. It had the same kind of texture contrast as Shepherd's Pie, it turns out, and was quite tasty. The filling is also great with hard taco shells (we get the brands that don't have trans fats), chips, in wheat tortillas or supermarket corn tortillas. Heck, you could probably even make some sort of Tamale Pie with it by covering it with corn bread batter and baking it.

I base my recipe on a Cook's Illustrated ground beef taco recipe, but I made adjustments to the spice quantities because I add so much extra stuff. In addition, I took out all of the hot chile and substituted smoked paprika for the chili powder to ensure a toddler-friendly meal. Finally, though I made the recipe with ground beef this time, I have also had great success with vegetarian 'grounds' (we like Yves). I suspect you could also use ground chicken or turkey. Whatever protein you use, you'll need to taste several times to adjust the salt and flavoring level to your preference.

I use my food processor (quelle surprise) for all of the vegetables except the garlic, for which I use our garlic press.

If you were so inclined, I bet that some finely chopped red or yellow bell pepper would be another nice addition to the filling.

INGREDIENTS
2 TBSP oil
2 small or 1 large onion finely diced
3-5 cloves garlic, finely minced or put through a press
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (mild)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt
1 lb ground beef
1 can drained pinto or black beans
1 bunch greens, washed and finely chopped/processed
4 carrots, washed and finely chopped/processed
1 c. chicken or veggie broth (low or unsalted)
1/2 to 1 tube tomato paste (we use Amore in the squeeze tube, you could also use a small can)
1 tsp brown sugar
3-4 tsp vinegar (cider or red wine would work best)
Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion
Cook, stirring, several minutes until the onion is softened but not browned
Stir in the garlic and spices and continue cooking for another minute
Add the ground protein item, and stir well to break it up into smaller pieces
Cook until the meat is no longer pink (for veggie grounds, just cook for a few minutes)
Add the beans, greens and carrots as well as the tomato paste and stock
Put a lid on the skillet to steam the veggies--about 5 minutes
Remove the lid and stir then add the brown sugar and cider vinegar
Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference
Use as a filling for hard or soft tacos, burritos, etc

Zucchini Bread Two Ways

2009-08-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are two recipes for zucchini bread. I am a big fan of the traditional cinnamony zucchini bread. But some ten or twelve years ago, I was introduced to the concept of chocolate zucchini bread. It sounded odd, but I was hooked after one bite. It's one of the easiest chocolate desserts I know. Sometimes I make a kind of Mexican chocolate zucchini bread by adding one heaping teaspoon of cinnamon to the cocoa.
The recipe for each kind of zucchini bread makes two loaves, so what I do (or try to do) is combine the recipes to make one loaf of each kind at a time. That's how I'll present the information here; if you want to make two loaves of the same kind, I'll give some shorthand quantities at the end.
I just tried making a full (two loaf) recipe of the chocolate zucchini bread and baking it in a Bundt pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Worked really well, though getting it out of the pan (though greased and floured) was problematic. I think it's because the melty chocolate chips stuck to the pan. However, I scraped out the stuck parts, molded them back to the cake, and shook icing sugar over it and it looked fine. Elspeth (the birthday girl reaching the big 2) was impressed, anyway.

INGREDIENTS FOR ONE TRADITIONAL AND ONE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI LOAF

COMMON MIXTURE
3 eggs
1 c. oil (anything but olive oil, really)
1 1/2 c. evaporated cane juice sugar
2 c. grated zucchini
1 tsp vanilla extract

TRADITIONAL LOAF DRY INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

CHOCOLATE LOAF DRY INGREDIENTS
1/4 c. evaporated cane juice sugar
1/2 c. chocolate chips (we love Trader Joe's Dutch process chips)
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1 1/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour two loaf pans
Get out two medium-sized bowls. In one bowl, whisk together the traditional bread's dry ingredients. In the second bowl, do the same for the chocolate zucchini bread's dry ingredients (leave out the extra vanilla for now)
In a large bowl, whisk together the common wet ingredients and stir in the grated zucchini
Pour half of this mixture into each of your other bowls (if you want to be more precise, pour the mixed ingredients into a measuring jug and calculate half from there)
Stir the ingredients together in each bowl just until it all comes together
Add the remaining teaspoon of vanilla extract to the chocolate bread
Fill the loaf pans (one batter-type per pan, of course)
Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each loaf comes out clean
Cool on a rack for ten minutes before removing breads from pans. Continue cooling (or slice off some and have with a good cup of tea)

These breads freeze really well. I also learned that grated zucchini freezes surprisingly well, so if you've got extra, you can save it for later use.

If you want to make two traditional loaves: 3 eggs; 1 c. oil; 1 1/2 c. sugar; 1 tsp vanilla; 2 c. grated zucchini; 3 c. flour; 1 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 c. chopped nuts

If you want to make two chocolate loaves: 3 eggs; 1 c. oil; 2 c. sugar; 1 TBSP vanilla; 2 c. grated zucchini; 1 c. chocolate chips; 1/2 c. cocoa powder; 2 1/2 c. flour; 1/2 tsp salt; 2 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp cinnamon (optional); 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Zucchini and Summer Squash Experiments

2009-08-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

We've started to receive summer squash and zucchini in our CSA basket and I've been trying to find something to do with it besides zucchini bread (recipe to be posted). Generally speaking, I'm pretty bored by savory zucchini and summer squash dishes. The best preparation so far has been grilling, but even then I wouldn't say that I look forward to eating it.

However, the newsletter that comes with our CSA basket had a recipe for Oven-Baked Zucchini Spears, which sounded intriguing. It's a take on fried mozzarella sticks, substituting zucchini for the mozzarella and cooking in the oven instead of the deep fryer. I thought, well, what the hell. It called for dipping the zucchini in water (this seemed a bad idea to me) and then coating it with an herbed bread crumb and Parmesan mixture. Of course, I planned to omit the Parmesan, and also I was going to use egg white instead of water. The spears were then to be served with marinara sauce.

Stuck in my memory was also this post from the Chowhound Home Cooking Board outlining how one could use the waffle iron, originally for eggplant, but also for zucchini and summer squash. I decided to merge the two ideas together and do an egged breadcrumb-coated zucchini on the waffle iron. The idea is that the squash is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside without having to use gobs of oil. I planned to serve it with My Favorite Pizza Sauce.

Well, it was a complete failure, at least from my perspective. Evan and Elspeth seemed to enjoy it somewhat, even if it was not the most raved-about meal of the year. I tried versions with squash I had pre-salted (to leech out some of the water) and squash I had not. I tried a version with some grated Parmesan, hoping to make something tastier for the two Es.

I originally cut the squash too thick, but even when I cut it thinner, I still wasn't happy with the result. In addition, I had sticking problems even when I greased the (non-stick) waffle iron. I didn't really like my coating either, truth be told. I had gone to our co-op (largely so Elspeth could get the free 'kid-pick' fruit she adores so much) so ended up with hippie panko which may well not be very good. I added dried thyme, oregano and rosemary as well as a bit of garlic powder and salt and pepper. It didn't quite mesh, even when I dramatically upped the salt (since it was bland, bland, bland in addition to being slightly bitter).

My dreams have been dashed! I had in my mind that somehow the squash/zucchini would be fluffy and light and crispy all at the same time. Or at least yummy in some way. I am not sure I have the energy to keep plugging away. If any dear readers (all five or maybe ten of you, for whom I'm very grateful) figure out a worthwhile recipe, do let me know.

We did have an edible meal, since we had 6 ears of corn to gobble up and the pizza sauce is tasty. We did consume all the squash, too, it just wasn't worth the effort of making it.

I got discouraged (and sugar crash-y) before waffling up all the squash I had prepared, so I have some slices left to use up. Tomorrow's meal will be much simpler, as well as a much safer bet. Call me trashy for liking French bread pizza, but I have always had a soft spot for it since the Stouffer frozen variety entered my life in my teens. (God, that stuff tastes nasty now, though, so I would only eat homemade). I'm going to grill or broil the remaining squash and use it as one of our pizza toppings along with some spinach and probably chorizo. We have an Essential Bakery focaccia onhand that is pretty tasty, so that will be our base. I am confident that it will be a tastier meal than what we had tonight, with no waffle iron to clean afterwards!

FRENCH BREAD PIZZA
1 loaf 'French', focaccia or other bread (we use baguette a lot) either homemade or storebought
1 recipe pizza sauce (it's great to keep some of this around in the freezer)
Grated mozzarella cheese to taste (we use the pre-grated low moisture stuff--nothing highbrow for a French bread pizza! You could use fresh if you like)

TOPPING OPTIONS:
Spanish chorizo pieces that you've pre-frizzled in a pan to get rid of some of the oil
OR for a veggie pizza, just sprinkle a little smoked paprika on top
Lightly pre-steamed greens (I'm going to process ours since it can be hard to bite off if you use large leaves)
Thinly-sliced zucchini or summer squash that you've pre-broiled or grilled lightly
Chopped kalamata olives
Gently-toasted pine nuts

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven or toaster oven to 350 (or so)
Slice your desired amount of bread horizontally and place both cut sides up onto a baking tray
Spoon sauce on the pieces of bread
Add toppings and cheese
Bake for 10 minutes (or so--really depends on oven size, temp and kind of bread and cheese) until cheese is melted and bubbling

Sweet and Sour Pork and Bok Choy

2009-07-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

We got some bok choy in our CSA recently, and I wanted to find a way to highlight it in a meal. Elspeth has liked the flavor in the past, but has also found the texture a bit puzzling. I decided to get out the handy-dandy food processor once more and see if finely processing the bok choy would make the veggie easier to consume but also still retain its flavor. We had some ground pork from the farmers' market in the freezer, so I thought I'd try to make an analog to the Teriyaki Ground Turkey and Vegetables dish that's become somewhat of a surprise hit in our repertoire. I knew I could use the teriyaki sauce again, but I wanted to try something new. (Why I wanted to try something new on a day when it was supposed to get to nearly 90 degrees F is a whole other story, but relates to the fact that 90 was the coolest it's supposed to be this week!). I wanted to go in a Chinese direction.

My all-time favorite Chinese cookery writer is Fucshia Dunlop, a British national who went to cooking school in Sichuan province. Her Sichuan cookbook Land of Plenty is a fantastic read as well as a wonderful source of information about Sichuan ingredients and tasty Sichuanese recipes. (I loved her memoir Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, as well, and, to my delight, I found out just now that she also has a blog http://www.fuchsiadunlop.com/blog/). The index of Land of Plenty didn't yield anything promising for bok choy, so I decided to look under pork. I wanted some sort of sauce that could go with the ground pork and vegetable. She has an excellent sauce she recommends for dipping wontons, but the chili oil component might not work for Elspeth. I finally hit upon her Sweet and Sour Pork recipe. She uses pork tenderloin and employs quite a different method from the one I wanted to use, but I knew the sauce recipe was a good contender. Thanks to my gluten-free experimentation, I even had potato starch on hand.

I decided to serve the pork and bok choy over brown rice. I can tell you with confidence that cooking brown rice in the microwave is not a good idea. I didn't want the stove to be on for the 40 minutes it takes to cook brown rice, and God knows I wasn't going to make the wonderful oven-baked brown rice that I make in winter time (or any time it's not over 80 degrees). I was heartened by a post on the Home Cooking board of chowhound from a very reputable poster about his success with microwave brown rice. Alas, the technique yielded a very wet bowl of rice, though I will say that the texture of the actual grains of rice was fine.

Couple this loose brown rice with the fact that I got carried away on the quantity of sauce needed for my pork and bok choy, and you end up with a meal of the consistency I like to call 'slop'. Sigh. It's very tasty slop, I'll grant, but let's just say I wouldn't make it the focus of a dinner party. Next time I would not double Dunlop's sauce recipe and I have given her original quantities here.

I wasn't sure how Elspeth would react to this meal. It is on the sweeter side, which she likes in dishes like that Teriyaki Ground Turkey and Vegetables recipe. However, the flavor profile is unlike anything she'd ever had before, largely due to the Chinese black vinegar. Thankfully, she seemed to like it and ate a reasonable portion even though her appetite has been dented by the heat. (Did I mention that it's hot? Or that we really dislike heat in this family?) If I were making this dish for adults or spice-loving children, I'd be tempted to add some chili oil or Sichuan chilis to the dish for an extra flavor element. I might also be tempted to reduce the amount of sugar very slightly, though if I didn't have such a large amount of sauce that might not be an issue. I'm going to (microwave) steam some cabbage we have on hand and add that to our next round to help give more depth of flavor.

INGREDIENTS
1 TBSP neutral flavored oil (you could use chili oil here)
2-3 tsp garlic, minced or put through a press
1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced, put through a press, or grated on a microplane
1 lb ground pork
1 lb bok choy (or some sort of green cabbage)--1 lb is a guess, so use your judgment on the pork to veggie ratio you prefer
3/4 c. ginger-infused chicken stock or regular low-sodium chicken stock
1 tsp sesame oil
3 scallions, green parts only, sliced on the diagonal (optional--I didn't use any)

SAUCE INGREDIENTS
1/4 tsp salt
3 TBSP sugar (or evaporated cane juice)
2 TBSP Chinese black vinegar or Chinkiang vinegar
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 1/2 tsp potato starch OR 3 3/4 tsp cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside
Clean the bok choy and grind in a food processor until a uniform texture. You could use chopped bok choy if you prefer, of course, but might wish to add the stems first then the leaves to the skillet
Heat the oil in a medium to large skillet over medium heat
Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a minute or two
Add the pork and bok choy and saute until the pork is fully cooked
Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil
Re-whisk the sauce ingredients and add to the skillet, stirring. The liquid should start to thicken almost immediately
Add the sesame oil and scallions if using, give the mixture a stir, and serve over rice

Gluten-Free Tart Crust and Two Fillings

2009-07-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

My husband's family all lives in town, and we celebrate everything with dinner. We all trade hosting duties. The host provides the main course and the rest of the guests provide the rest. There are only 9 adults who attend regularly these days, so it's a manageable size and everyone loves the entertainment that our toddler provides. One of the family has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease and tomorrow will be the first family celebration since then. We're all in agreement that we want to make a meal that the entire family can enjoy (rather than make a special, different meal for our celiac sufferer). I'm often on dessert duty and was excited to see what I could come up with. Though it would be easy to make a dessert that never would have had gluten in the first place, I wanted to experiment with a dessert that traditionally would contain the offending substance.

I can take no credit for the gluten-free tart crust recipe except for that of being able to find it on the Internet (via glutenfreegirl, I think). I wasn't sure if I should reproduce the recipe here or send people to its source at Hey, that tastes good! In the end, I decided to reproduce it here for convenience while giving full credit to Jill Elise (and her sources, The Joy of Cooking and Smitten Kitchen's version of Dorie Greenspan).

I was really impressed with how it came out. If I didn't know it was gluten-free, I couldn't guess. Maybe it's a bit crisper, but flavor-wise it's what I would expect from a pâte sablée.

My original plan was to fill this tart crust with the glorious raspberry tart inspired by Ruth Reichl's recipe in Tender at the Bone. The magic of the recipe she learned in France is that half the raspberries are baked into the tart and the other half are left raw and piled onto the tart. The combination of fresh raspberry and jammy cooked raspberry is divine. However, the recipe itself gave me problems. I consider myself an intermediate baker and a good direction-follower (in baking, anyway). Yet each time I made this tart, it refused to set in the middle. Enter Deborah Madison. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone has a prune tart that I thought would be easily and deliciously adapted to a raspberry tart, and I was right.

I've also had chocolate pie on the brain. Cook's Illustrated periodically tries to upsell me by sending me sample copies of their sister magazine Cook's Country. I find this magazine a bit too country for me, but this particular sample issue had a recipe for French Silk Chocolate Pie and I found my mouth watering. When our dinner gathering switched to brunch, I opted to change my tart to a chocolate one instead of having to procure raspberries from somewhere other than our favorite vendor at the farmers' market. The recipe is a bit of a pain in the ass because of all the time spent with a hand mixer over the stove, but I think it was worth it. Next time, I'd be tempted to add a slug of whisky (not sure where in the process, though, probably along with the eggs so the alcohol could cook out) or a bit of strong coffee.

GLUTEN-FREE TART CRUST
Most of the recipes at Hey, that tastes good! use a rice flour mix. I made up a bunch to have for family dinners. The only difference in the proportions I'm giving here is that I use all brown rice flour instead of a 50-50 mix of brown and white, mainly because I don't want to have two kinds of rice flour on hand. She does a combination for economical reasons, which would be more important to me if I needed to cook gluten-free all the time. You will only need 3/4 cup of the mix for the crust, so you may wish to halve her usual amounts.

RICE FLOUR MIX: 2 c. brown rice flour, 2/3 c. potato starch, 1/3 c. tapioca

The dough was quite sticky (perhaps I overprocessed) and made more than could fit in my removable-bottom tart pan, so you may want to keep aside some of the dough to make tartlets. Mmm, tartlets.

CRUST INGREDIENTS
3/4 c. rice flour mix
3/4 c. ground almonds (almond meal)
1/3 c. powdered sugar
large pinch of salt
scant 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
4 oz. (1/4 lb, 1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten

DIRECTIONS

Pulse dry ingredients in a food processor briefly
Add the cold, cubed butter to the food processor and pulse until the mixture is coarse with lumps the size of peas
While the processor is running, add the beaten egg. Mix just until the dough comes together
Pat the dough into your tart pan and prick it all over with a fork
Freeze for half an hour (Note: I always want to use my Pyrex pan for tarts, but I love this freezing method to help prevent shrinking. I switched to my metal pan because I don't want to risk shattering by putting the Pyrex directly from the freezer into a hot oven. I may be over-cautious but I'd hate to risk it)
While the dough is cooling, preheat the oven to 375 (I think that next time I'd do 350)
When the dough is cooled, place a large, greased piece of aluminum foil on it, shiny side down (to prevent overbrowning)
Place the tart pan on a baking tray (for convenience) and bake in the oven for 25 minutes
If you're going to make the raspberry tart, remove tart crust from oven, take off the foil and cool. Proceed with raspberry tart recipe
If you're making the chocolate tart, you will need to bake the crust completely. At the 25 minute mark, remove the foil and continue baking. Start with 10 minutes and increase as needed until the crust is golden brown all over. (It tends to be darker than a traditional crust, possibly because of the almonds). Cool and proceed with the chocolate tart recipe

RASPBERRY TART

INGREDIENTS
1 fully baked tart crust
4 c. raspberries, halved (it's okay for 2 c. of the raspberries to have been frozen, but do thaw them first. You really need fresh raspberries for the topping, though)
1/2 c. crème fraîche
1 egg
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. ground almonds (almond meal)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Cover the bottom of your par-baked tart crust with 2 cups of raspberries (fresh or previously-frozen)
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients
Pour over the raspberries in the tart crust
Bake until the custard is set (puffed and golden), about 35 minutes
Remove from the oven and cool completely (I like this tart best cold)
Just before serving, heap the remaining 2 cups fresh raspberries on top of the tart

FRENCH CHOCOLATE SILK TART
You could also use just a regular (or gluten-free) pie crust instead of a tart crust

INGREDIENTS
1 fully-baked tart or pie shell
1 c. whipping cream (cold)
3/4 c. evaporated cane juice
2 TBSP water (hmm, I forgot this when I made it and it seemed to turn out okay)
8 oz. 70% (or more) cocoa chocolate (I used Theo's Jane Goodall bars)
1 TBSP vanilla extract
8 oz. (1/2 lb, 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and softened

DIRECTIONS

Whip the cream to stiff peaks and then refrigerate
Melt the chocolate and set aside (I used the microwave and started with 2 minutes at 70% power)
Set a small amount of water in the bottom of a double boiler to simmer
In the top of the double boiler, combine the eggs, sugar and water and set on top of the barely-simmering water. Ensure that the bottom of the bowl does not make contact with the water
Using an electric mixer on medium, beat the eggs, water and sugar in the double boiler until it is thick and creamy. The temperature of the mixture needs to reach 160 degrees to make sure the eggs are absolutely safe. This took longer than the 7-10 minutes suggested by Cook's Country, possibly because I was too conservative with the water temperature
Turn off the stove and remove the top of the double boiler to set it on a counter. Continue beating with the electric mixer until the custard is at room temperature and very fluffy, about 8 minutes
Now add the chocolate and vanilla extract to the room temperature custard and mix until well-blended
Beat in the softened butter, a few pieces at a time, until the mixture is glossy and smooth (I only had 7 TBSP of butter on hand and didn't miss the extra 1 TBSP at all)
Now, fold in the chilled whipped cream until there are no white streaks left
Pour the filling into the prepared tart shell. If there is any left over, just put it in little bowls to chill and eat as pudding later
Refrigerate the tart and any pudding cups at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours
Serve with whipped cream and garnish with fresh berries if in season (cherries, raspberries, strawberries, even blueberries would be good)

Summer Smoothie

2009-07-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

I suppose that this recipe isn't that much different than the guidelines already published in my first Smoothie post. However, there is some new information I'd like to share.

In my original post, I'd speculated that avocado might be a good addition to a smoothie, but I hadn't yet tried it. Since then, I can confirm that avocado works beautifully, so if you're wanting to get some quality fat and calories into yourself or your loved one, I recommend using them. Thanks to a Trader Joe's Frequent Flyer, I got the idea of freezing avocados. This had never occurred to me before, but it's brilliant. The days of Elspeth eating 1/4 to 1/2 an avocado per day are over now that she's eating all the foods we do, so it's hard for us to use up an avocado without it getting nasty. Freezing comes to the rescue--there is no discoloration or anything. My guess is that a previously-frozen avocado is best used in mashed or blended form, but that's how we're most likely to want to use it anyway. My plan is to quarter and peel a ripe avocado, tray freeze it, and then store in a freezer bag for easy use in smoothies.

The other thing about avocados is that, while we can't get locally grown ones, they do at least grow in California. Bananas, our other common smoothie 'smoother' do not. So if I want to decrease the amount of tropical fruit we consume, avocado is a great substitution. (Not to mention the fact that I'm rather squeamish about overripe bananas).

There is no real need to use frozen ingredients in the smoothie; I simply think that the texture is really nice when using frozen items (the avocado or the berries, etc). What I did in this case was pit and quarter my apricots and my cherries and then stick them in the freezer for an hour or so until I was ready to make the smoothie. So nice to use the bounty from the farmers' market.

I use the nut-soaking shortcut almost exclusively now because Elspeth doesn't decide a day in advance what she's going to want for breakfast the next day.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 servings of smoothie)
1/2 c. raw almonds plus water to cover
3/4 to 1 c. water
1/4 to 1/2 avocado
2 apricots, pitted, quartered and lightly frozen
1 large handful cherries, pitted and lightly frozen
2-4 TBSP multi-grain cereal (optional)
1 TBSP ground flaxseed (optional)
1-2 TBSP agave nectar (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place the nuts in a medium bowl and cover them with water. Microwave them at 50% power for 5 minutes and then let them sit for another 5
Place the nuts, the 3/4 to 1 c. water and the avocado in a blender and process until very smooth. You should scrape down the mixture once; you may need to add a bit more water
Add remaining ingredients and process until the mixture has no lumps
Adjust texture and sweetness as needed and serve

Agave Limeade

2009-07-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

I feel I must post a link to the Whole Life Nutrition website, as I have adopted and adapted so many of their recipes for my kitchen. Here is yet another, for limeade using agave (or honey). We had a bag of limes from Trader Joe's lying around and Elspeth was a bit peeved that Evan and I were having a couple of Pimm's No. 1 Cups (well, peeved that we wouldn't share with her, that is), so I decided to make her her own special drink. She was unsure at first, but seemed to warm up to it. She skipped the limeade part and just referred to it as 'gaveh nekar'. Both Evan and I liked it a lot. I didn't make any adaptations except for making a larger batch. I also skipped making the raspberry ice cubes because I'm lazy that way.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c. freshly-squeezed lime juice
3/8 c. agave nectar (or honey)
6 c. water

DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients in a pitcher and stir. Taste and adjust sweetness, if needed.

Simple Blueberry Muffins

2009-07-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

We've just started blueberry season here and scored ourselves half a flat of organic beauties at the farmers' market. Though in some ways it seems a shame to cook such wonderful gems, it's hard to beat a good blueberry muffin. There are tons of good recipes out there and this one is not going to set the world on fire with its innovation. But if you're looking for a good-tasting, easy recipe (that would be fun to make with kids, if you're so inclined), this one works for us. I got the original recipe out of or that infamous Betty Crocker (or was it Better Homes and Gardens) cookbook whence came the Snickerdoodles and Russian Teacakes recipes, but I've made a few modifications over the years, mainly because I increased the batch due to the fact that my muffins must be bigger than the recipe-writer's.

I don't health-food these up too much. If you want to throw in flaxseed or wheat germ or cornmeal, go ahead.

This recipe also works brilliantly with huckleberries, the tart and translucent relative of the blueberry. You can use either the purple or the red kind.

INGREDIENTS
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 1/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 c. organic evaporated cane juice sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (I never bother to thaw first if using frozen)

DIRECTIONS

Make sure oven rack is in the center and preheat oven to 400 degrees; prepare a muffin tray
Stir together the flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs lightly
Add the milk and the vegetable oil, mixing well after each addition
Stir in the sugar and beat until well mixed
Add the dry ingredients you'd set aside and stir until the batter is just moistened
Fold in the blueberries
Distribute the batter evenly into the muffin cups and place in the oven
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are well-risen with a nicely golden cap
Serve warm (we like to reheat leftovers in the toaster oven--they also freeze well)

Warm Almond Drink with Spices

2009-07-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

This tasty treat really hit the spot for me when I first brought Elspeth home. It's yet another recipe from Whole Life Nutrition. The authors call it Warming Raspberry Leaf Almond Drink. If it's hot where you are, I bet it would also be nice iced, kind of like iced chai or horchata.

The original intention behind the recipe is to 'nourish breastfeeding mothers, especially in the early postpartum stage'. Our dear friend made this for me in my 'third day crazies' stage of motherhood and it may well have saved my sanity even if it had an unquantifiable effect on my milk production.

You essentially make your own almond milk first and then make the spiced tea part of it. Thus, you could streamline by using prepared almond milk. If it is sweetened, simply omit the honey in the recipe. And if you're not a nursing new mom, it would still be delicious without the raspberry leaves, so you could further decrease the amount of time to prepare this soothing beverage.

INGREDIENTS
4 c. water
1 c. raw almonds, ground to a fine powder

2 c. water
2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3 sticks cinnamon
4 whole cloves
2 tsp fennel seeds
3 tbsp dried raspberry leaves

1/3 c honey or to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place four cups of the water in a pot with the ground almonds and cover. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 30 minutes (still covered)
In a smaller pot, combine remaining 2 cups of water with the ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and fennel seeds and simmer for 30 minutes, covered
Remove the pot from the heat and add the raspberry leaves
Let steep, covered, for 10-20 minutes
Strain the herb mixture into a blender (discard the herbs)
Add the almond milk mixture to the blender and blend on high until very smooth
Add the honey and blend an additional minute
Strain drink through fine mesh strainer if desired (I don't bother)

Pasta with Spiced Onion-Nut-Cream Sauce

2009-06-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

What is a gal to do when she is overrun with CSA greens? Well, I had thought that a variation of saag paneer would be nice (notwithstanding the fact that I don't eat paneer). However, none of the recipes I had looked that great and my plea on Facebook went unanswered. Using a bit of lateral thinking, I decided to adapt a favorite recipe that I got from a friend years ago from the Back to Square One cookbook by Joyce Goldstein. I thought of it because saag paneer mixes spinach and cream. This recipe (originally called, I think, Circassian Chicken Fettucine with Spiced Onions and Nuts) uses cream, so I figured, what the hell, I'll see if I can add a ton of pre-steamed and finely ground greens to it and have it be tasty.

Of course, adding the greens is not the only adaptation I've made. First off, I'm not using fettucine. I think it's delicious with fresh fettucine and I recommend others try it if it sounds good. However, long noodles are really tough for Elspeth to eat, so I opted for our standby of whole wheat penne. In addition, I decided not to use chicken breasts. Again, the recipe is quite tasty this way, but we've discovered that Elspeth isn't particularly fond of chicken. (To adapt my version back to the chicken version, you'll want to pan sear your chicken breasts, remove them from the pan, make the sauce and then re-add). It's also easier to use fake meat--Quorn tenders to be precise. If you're squeamish about fake meat and have no interest in chicken, my guess is that the dish would also be fine without a central protein.

It turns out that Elspeth was less fond of this dish than I expected, largely, I think, due to the nuts. I think the texture threw her off. When I make it again, I think I'll whiz the nuts and the cream in the blender to make a very smooth nutty cream.

INGREDIENTS
2 TBSP olive oil
2 c. diced onion
1/4 tsp ground cayenne (optional or to taste)
2 tsp ground coriander
3/4 c toasted walnuts
1/2 c toasted almonds
1 1/2 c cream
1 1/2 c chicken or veggie stock
1 bunch greens, finely chopped and steamed
1 package Quorn tenders (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Prepare whatever pasta you're using according to the directions; if you're using dried pasta, you can make the sauce in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta
If you want a really smooth sauce, combine the nuts, cream and stock in the blender and process until it's a nice consistency. Set aside
Place olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent
Stir in the coriander and cayenne and cook another 3 minutes
Add the nut/stock/cream mixture and cook for a few minutes
Now add the previously steamed greens and the package of Quorn
Continue cooked until the Quorn is all the way cooked and the sauce has reduced and thickened
Serve over pasta

Potato Heaven

2009-06-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

I mentioned this one last night over cocktails with some moms from preschool and was requested to post it. Patricia Wells has a recipe in her Bistro cookbook that I think is called Lyonnaise Potatoes or Galette Lyonnaise but that we call Potato Heaven. Not revolutionary but awfully tasty. I need to make it again, soon. In my lean and hungry days post-college, I think when I made this it became my entire meal. These days, I'd be more apt to use it as a side dish. It also occurred to me as I was falling asleep last night that it could make a super-tasty topping for Shepherd's Pie.

INGREDIENTS
2 lb. baking potatoes
2 medium onions, cut in half and then sliced into half moons
6 TBSP unsalted butter
Lots of freshly-grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Boil your potatoes as if you're going to mash them and set aside
Cook sliced onions in 2 TBSP (1 ounce) melted butter until soft but not brown
Grate in tons of nutmeg and season with salt and pepper
Gently smash your potatoes (you don't want them to be too smooth) and add to onions
Add 2 TBSP more butter; always grate in more nutmeg at this point, too
Put in a baking dish (9x13 glass one is great, or a large oval ceramic dish) and dot the top with yet again 2 TBSP butter
Put under the broiler until butter is melted and top is lightly browned

Southwest Quinoa Salad or Soup

2009-06-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

This is a great hot weather recipe that we learned at our Organically Grown Babies class at the local co-op. It's very adaptable to any changes you want to make in the type or nature of the veggies. For example, Elspeth loves peppers, but only when they're cooked. So instead of adding raw red pepper, I added a roasted one. The original recipe calls for jicama, which we don't love and never have around, so last summer when we were overrun with CSA radishes, I substituted those. (They do turn bitter after a day, so you'll want to add a fresh batch at each meal). Another of Elspeth's favorite veggies is corn, so I cooked from organic frozen corn kernels and threw those in. The possible combinations are legion. (A side note here. This is how far overboard I go sometimes in my locavore and parenting perfectionism: we're considering getting an Oxo implement that takes corn off a cob. This made me think that I was now obligated to cook and strip enough corn kernels to keep Elspeth in local corn for an entire year. Evan talked me down from that ledge by looking at me as if I were completely insane, which I was, for a moment).

Well, as it turned out, Elspeth just wasn't fond of the texture of the room temperature cooked quinoa. I know she likes quinoa, so I searched my brain for alternatives. I was quite proud of myself for coming up with the idea of turning it into soup! I took some of the quinoa, black beans, carrots, and roasted red pepper and warmed them in some chicken stock. I pureed this blend until smooth. To add texture, I then added some additional beans whole and some frozen corn and let it cook in the soup. I am pleased to say that Elspeth seemed to like it quite a bit, though she also demanded that I add cooked peas, mainly because she adores peas and prefers to eat them with every meal.

I adapted the technique of this recipe further by keeping everything separate until eating time. This allows all eaters to choose exactly the ingredients and proportions to put in their bowls. It also makes the salad taste nicer if you're going to have leftovers. I dressed the quinoa, the beans and the roasted pepper/ corn, so each had some of the lime flavor.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 c. uncooked quinoa, well rinsed
2 c. water
pinch of salt

1 1/2 c. cooked black beans
1 red bell pepper, roasted or raw, in bite-sized pieces
1/4 c. chopped cilantro or parsley (optional)
1 c. chopped jicama or radishes (optional)
2 c. chopped carrots (I steamed some lightly for Elspeth's portion and used these cooked carrots in the soup version)
1 c. cooked corn kernels

Dressing
1/4 c. canola oil
2-4 TBSP freshly-squeezed lime juice
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
Pinch salt

Garnishes
1/2 c. toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 avocado, in chunks

DIRECTIONS

Place the rinsed quinoa in a large saucepan, cover with the water and add a pinch of salt
Cover the pot, bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce heat to a simmer
Cook approximately 20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and there are holes in the grain (do not stir)
Remove quinoa from heat and set aside to cool slightly
Whisk up the dressing
When the quinoa is no longer steaming, mix half of the dressing into it
In a separate bowl, coat the black beans with about 3/4 of the remaining dressing
Finally, coat the remaining vegetables with the rest of the dressing (you can mix or keep separate these veggies at your discretion, but as I mentioned, if using radish, it should be kept separate and chopped up fresh at each meal)
Give each eater a bowl and assemble as desired, using pepitas and avocado for garnish

Savory Custards with Asparagus

2009-05-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

A dear friend of ours needs to eat very soft foods at the moment. Most of her diet has been liquefied for a few days now. I was trying to come up something savory that isn't soup and suddenly it occurred to me that custard would be a good possibility. I was prepared to make up my own recipe, but Deborah Madison and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone came to my aid yet again. I took her savory custard recipe, made it slightly larger (added 4 eggs instead of 3 because we had medium ones), and incorporated both garlic and asparagus.

Instead of leaving bits of garlic in the custard, I infused the garlic in the milk and eggs for an hour or so in the fridge and then strained the mixture. Madison wants you to strain it anyway, so I figured this would work well. My tasters tell me that the garlic came through nicely. (Indeed, I made a dish that I would never consider eating myself, as I dislike both cheese and asparagus. I do this with Elspeth all the time and am thrilled that so far her palate is more like her father's.)

Asparagus does seem awfully stringy for someone who needs liquid or super-soft food, I know. However, I put it through a food mill. Of course, that meant that the 6-8 lovely thin stalks ended up being only a few tablespoons worth. Thus, the custards were more asparagus-scented than anything. Even if you are unrestricted in your ability to eat textures, you may still wish to put the asparagus through a mill in order to keep the custardy goodness intact. If that is the case, you'll also want to double the amount of asparagus.

Our weekly trip to the farmers' market scored us the eggs and the organic asparagus, but we got the cheese from our co-op because I didn't want to risk a less-than-luscious texture for our friend by buying some locally-produced Fontina equivalent (and, as I don't eat cheese, I would have no idea what would make a good substitute).

Eaters looking for a bit more texture could try not only using minced or diced up bits of asparagus instead of milled, but also a bread crumb topping. I would recommend in that case omitting the garlic from the custards and instead using this garlic bread crumb recipe. I'll bet that cheese lovers could improve on the bread crumbs further by adding a little bit of Parmesan.

This would make a nice light supper accompanied by a salad. I'm delighted to report that our friend was able to eat and enjoy the custard, testament both to her recovery and to the softness of the meal.

Note that I made a second variation of this dish a few weeks later. Instead of scenting it with asparagus, I used caramelized onions (about 1/2 a very large onion), cooked spinach (1/2 c. total after cooking and milling) and lots of grated nutmeg. Very Frenchy, as a friend said. I love the combination of onions and nutmeg and it's so great with spinach, too.

INGREDIENTS
3-4 eggs (use more eggs if using medium eggs)
1 2/3 c. milk (I use whole these days and suspect it will work best, but feel free to experiment)
3/4 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
1 clove garlic put through a garlic press or finely minced (optional)
1/2 c. grated Fontina cheese
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. cooked asparagus diced or put through a food mill (you'll want 1/2 cup volume regardless, so if you are going to put it through a food mill, you'll need quite a lot of asparagus to start out with)

DIRECTIONS

Mix together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and garlic in a bowl and set aside to infuse. If you're going to leave it for over 20 minutes, place in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter six 1-cup ramekins or custard cups
Prepare to make a water bath by bringing a few cups of water to a boil and then taking it off the heat and setting it aside
Prepare your asparagus and grate your cheeses (this lets the egg/milk/garlic mixture infuse as long as possible)
Once all of your ingredients are prepared, strain the milk/egg mixture into a medium-sized bowl
Add the remaining ingredients and stir well
Pour the custard mixture into the six ramekins, distributing evenly. Sprinkle on the bread crumbs, if using
Place ramekins in a 9 x 13 dish (mine is Pyrex), then place this on the oven shelf and pour the hot water into the dish (but not, of course, into the ramekins). You want the water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Close up the oven
Bake until the tops are starting to turn golden and the custards are set, about 20 minutes. Note that you still want a jiggly spot about the size of a dime in the center of each one
Remove custards from the oven and water bath and let cool 5 minutes before serving
Madison states that custards can be reheated by brushing the tops with milk or cream, covering with foil, and baking at 375 degrees for 15-25 minutes. This sounds a bit dubious to me since you're cooking it at higher heat for longer than you did originally, but this is what she says about reheating custards and timbales generally (not this recipe specifically)

Lentil Soup with Walnuts and Cream

2009-05-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Now this is what I call a great meal for a weeknight! I love the other Deborah Madison lentil soup recipe I published, and it is hardly difficult, but the one I'm publishing now is even easier. This one comes from her Vegetable Soups cookbook, another gem. The only thing you have to chop is an onion and yet the soup is full of flavor. The first time I made it, I thought the flavor came from the rich, smoked turkey stock we used. This time, though, I only had 4 cups of homemade chicken stock and used water for the remaining 2 cups. The soup was still surprisingly robust. I think this is due to two things: the butter used to saute the onion, and the bay leaf that you saute along with that onion in the butter. I hadn't used this technique before, but I think that the flavor of the bay is released by the this treatment. I also found that the soup improved in flavor the next day.

In my usual fashion, I changed the recipe by adding some ground greens (Russian kale, in this case). They didn't detract at all from the subtle yet hearty flavor of the soup, and may well have added to it.

Madison is a strong advocate of soaking lentils. This is something I almost never do, but I do for this soup (mainly because she reminds one to do so right in the recipe). She believes that the lentils are more flavorful after soaking, so perhaps in the end this is the real reason the soup taste so good despite its simplicity. Any amount of soaking time will be good, she says, but 2 hours is optimal (she didn't say anything about a longer soak--I would think if you wanted a really long soak, say from morning until dinner time or overnight, you should keep them in the fridge).

I really like the pounded walnut topping that Madison suggests with this soup, though if I'm feeling lazy I won't bother with it. (In fact, it's this topping that makes me wanted to try a walnut version of my Everyday Pasta for Spring and Summer). I found this time that I wanted more walnut flavor in the soup, so next time, I might be tempted to put ground, toasted walnuts and garlic directly into it. I'll post about it if I try this variation.

This is another one that got the Elspeth seal of approval, though she tends to get full after a small portion.

INGREDIENTS
2 c. lentils, picked over and rinsed (I use Puy lentils)
1 onion, finely diced
2-4 TBSP unsalted butter
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
6 c. chicken, turkey or vegetable stock or water (if you haven't soaked your lentils, expect to use up to 2 cups additional water)
1 bunch greens, washed and ground up in a food processor (or very finely chopped)

WALNUT SAUCE INGREDIENTS
1 garlic clove, finely diced or put through a press
1/3 c. toasted walnuts
1/3 c. crème fraîche or cream (I actually used strained yogurt)
Dash of salt (Madison doesn't call for this, but I think it could use it)
Parsley for garnish (I put the parsley straight into the garlic, walnuts and yogurt)

DIRECTIONS

After picking through the lentils and discarding any stones or debris, soak them for one to two hours, then rinse and proceed with the recipe
Melt the butter in a large sauce pan or soup pot (I used our 5 quart and there was plenty of room)
Add the onion and bay leaf and saute over medium high heat for 5 or so minutes, until the onion is soft but not browned
Add the lentils, salt and stock and bring to a boil
Simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes
Add the ground greens and let cook a further 10 minutes or so. Taste and adjust the seasoning (I added a splash of champagne vinegar at this point)
Turn off the heat and let sit while you make the walnut sauce

WALNUT SAUCE DIRECTIONS
I used the food processor for the sauce because I'm lazy, but I think a mortar and pestle might have worked better, so I'll give directions for that. It's what Madison suggests, anyway.

Place the garlic clove and a pinch of salt in the mortar, mix together with the pestle
Add the walnuts and parsley and begin to work them into a paste
Add the cream, crème fraîche, or strained yogurt a tablespoon at a time to help break down the walnuts. If you have any extra dairy, just add it to the soup

SERVE THE SOUP
When you serve the soup, add a generous dollop of the walnut sauce to each bowl and swirl to blend

Streusel Coffee Cake

2009-05-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love this coffee cake. Unlike so many I've had, it's not dry at all. That's probably because it uses oil rather than butter. I thank my sister-in-law for introducing me to it, though sometimes I wish I didn't have this recipe because it is far too easy to polish off absurdly large portions of this cake at a sitting. The recipe is from the Café Beaujolais in California and I have made very few changes to it. Sure, at one time I had a lower fat version or maybe even a lower carb version, but it was way too much hassle. Now I just use whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose and use a combination of pecans and almonds for the topping instead of walnuts. One of the things I love about it is how the streusel topping is scooped from the main mixture. There is also a nice ratio of topping to cake. This cake got the Elspeth yummy award, I'm sure you're shocked to learn.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 c. packed brown sugar (I usually use a combination of dark and light)
3/4 c. evaporated cane juice sugar
3/4 c. vegetable oil (the original recipe specifies corn oil)
1 c. almonds and pecans, lightly toasted and chopped
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1 c. buttermilk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 12 inch baking pan (I use Pam on a Pyrex)
Combine flour, 1 tsp of the cinnamon, all of the ginger, sugars and oil in a large bowl. I usually end up digging in with my clean hands to mix it
Remove 3/4 c. of this mixture to a small bowl. Add the remaining cinnamon and nuts to it and stir--this is now your topping. Set aside
In the large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Small lumps in the batter are okay
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan
Sprinkle evenly with the topping
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
Serve warm or at room temperature. Try to prevent yourself from eating half the cake in one go

Scones

2009-05-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

I make no claims for the authenticity of these scones. They do not date from my long sojourn in the UK; no wizened auld grannie gave me her cherished family recipe. In fact, I started making these scones in high school, when I simply dreamed of all things British and never believed I would ever cross that pond. I think that the recipe comes from some sort of Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. These scones taste like none I've ever had in the States or in Britain, but I do like them quite a lot.

This last time I made them, I used the food processor. Because I had doubled the batch the processor was quite full and I had to run the motor much more than I would have thought (pulsing just wasn't cutting through the butter). The end result was pretty close to what I've made by hand, so I would probably use the shortcut again. If I don't double the recipe, I only get about 9 scones--I must like them thicker than the original recipe calls for, as I'm sure it is a recipe for a dozen. The following is the doubled recipe.

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 TBSP baking powder
6 TBSP sugar (3/8 c.)
2/3 tsp salt (or 3/4 tsp if you can't be bothered looking for a third teaspoon measure)
2/3 c. unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch chunks (11-ish TBSP)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 to 3/4 c. heavy cream or whole milk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and prepare a baking tray (I put Silpat on mine)
Combine dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined
Add the butter and coat with flour
Pulse in the food processor until the mixture resembles small peas
Keeping the motor running, add the beaten eggs through the feeding tube
Start by adding 1/2 c. of milk while the motor is running
Stop processor and remove lid to check on texture of dough--it should form a ball in your hand but not be sticky to the touch. Add more milk as needed
Remove dough from food processor and knead lightly to make a ball of dough
Let dough rest for ten minutes
Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into circles. According to some cooking show I saw in Britain, it's good to avoid twisting the cutter because twisting the dough might impeded the rising process. (Alternatively, you can roll the dough into a circle and cut into triangles, though you should separate the triangles to bake individually or else the middle won't cook well)
Put scones on prepared tray; brush with egg wash if you choose (I rarely bother)
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown
Remove from oven and serve while warm

Everyday Pasta for Spring and Summer

2009-05-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

I spent many years being squeamish about all dairy products save for milk and ice cream. Yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese-- all made me shudder. I can barely write the words cottage cheese without cringing. Some of my disgust was cured by living in France. Yogurt there wasn't nasty and they had a substance called crème fraîche whose subtle tanginess soothed rather than nauseated. (Cottage cheese, however, will always be dead to me.) It was in France that I came up with this dish.

I sometimes like to call it a cousin of carbonara, but purists might rightly howl at such a designation. I only do so because I started out making a more traditional carbonara using egg. I then decided to smooth out the egg with a bit of crème fraîche and eventually just jettisoned the egg altogether.

When spring finally arrives and there are pea shoots and other young greens in the farmers' market, this dish returns and makes itself a frequent dinner at our house throughout the summer. It can be made with almost anything green--the aforementioned pea shoots, sorrel, peas, greens and even broccoli, which is what I used this past week.

I find myself frustrated that crème fraîche is so expensive in the States, so in the past I've tried to make my own version by culturing cream with a couple of tablespoons of buttermilk. For some reason, though, I have very mixed success. These days, more often than not, the cream never thickens and it is the thickness I want--to melt lusciously over the pasta. So this week when my culturing failed, I tried a different technique altogether. I mixed strained whole milk yogurt with the cream that hadn't thickened. I was amazed at how good a substitute this was for crème fraîche and will certainly make this my go-to method.

Now, you may ask why you couldn't just use non-strained yogurt if you need something that isn't as thick as the strained stuff. You have a point and you're welcome to try that. However, I found that both the texture and the flavor of the cream/strained yogurt mixture was superior to yogurt alone and it may also behave better when exposed to heat--I had no curdling or 'breaking' problems. I'm no food scientist, but it may be because the strained yogurt and cream mixture has no whey (I think that's what strains out of the yogurt...)

This dish is super easy to make and can be whipped up in the time it takes to boil the pasta water and cook the pasta. If you are using broccoli for the dish, I recommend pre-steaming it in the microwave (or you could try setting a steamer over your pasta cooking water). If you're using greens, pea shoots, or peas, I recommend cooking them in the pasta cooking water, using your own taste and judgement to decide when during the pasta-cooking process to add the green stuff. I like to mix all the ingredients together as opposed to keeping the pasta separate and topping with sauce.

We weren't sure how Elspeth was going to take to this dish. She's ambivalent about cheese and even butter but does like yogurt. All signs were good and I think she may even have called it 'yummy'. Of course, it contains three of her favorite ingredients: bacon, garlic and pasta.

I added the 'vegetarian' label because you could easily omit the bacon. In fact, I am planning on trying a version in which I use toasted, chopped walnuts instead of bacon. Deborah Madison combines cream, walnuts and garlic in a lentil soup topping and I think it would be great both with pasta and with broccoli.

As always, we use Bionaturae brand whole wheat pasta because it's our favorite.

We do not turn up our noses at reheated pasta and find that this dish makes pretty good leftovers if I haven't guessed proportions right.

INGREDIENTS
Enough dried whole wheat penne for your family's dinner
1 big bunch greens or pea shoots OR 1-2 c. peas OR 1 bunch broccoli chopped and pre-steamed
1/2 c. strained yogurt
1/8 to 1/4 c. heavy cream (you could also try whole milk, but it might not work as well)
1 TBSP olive oil
2 slices thick, good quality bacon cut crosswise into little pieces (we use pepper bacon, which is perfect in this application)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced finely or put through a garlic press

DIRECTIONS

Put your pasta water on to heat and cook your pasta according to directions/your taste when it boils. Use the heating time to put together everything else
Prepare your greens--wash, chop or do whatever you need to make bite-sized pieces. If you're using anything but broccoli, plan on using the pasta-cooking water to cook the green stuff
Mix the strained yogurt with cream in a small bowl, adding a little cream at a time and stirring to come up with your preferred consistency. I like it to be the consistency of lightly whipped cream. Set aside
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the bacon
Cook, stirring often, until the bacon has rendered fat and is starting to turn golden
Add the garlic and continue cooking for few minutes. Try not to let the garlic get too brown
At this point, if your pasta isn't cooked yet, you might want to turn off the heat under the bacon and garlic
When the pasta and greens are cooked and ready, turn the heat under the skillet to low
Add the pasta and greens (or peas or broccoli--you get the idea) to the skillet and stir
Add the yogurt/cream mixture and stir to coat
Taste and adjust seasoning (when we use pepper bacon, we find we need no extra salt or pepper)
Remove quickly from heat and serve

Romesco Sauce

2009-05-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

I took this sauce/spread as an appetizer to our preschool social and I was really happy with how it turned out. I made up my own recipe using ideas from Penelope Casas' The Food and Wine of Spain and Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Casas' recipe was my baseline, but I used some additions from Madison and a tweak or two of my own. My version is more rustic than Madison or Casas would have you create because I didn't peel the almonds or tomato--seemed like too much effort for something that would be pureed. I used my handy new mini-chopper, as it didn't seem like a big enough recipe to warrant the full food processor. I'm sure readers will be unsurprised to learn that I used smoked paprika; it added just the right depth. Madison's recipe includes a roasted red pepper, which I think would be a nice, though not necessary, addition.

We read a book at our house called Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli. Elspeth has so far only picked up on the yummy part and it is really gratifying to have her taste something and deem it yummy, as she did for this sauce. I served it with homemade bread and Spanish green olives.

INGREDIENTS
1-2 New Mexico dried chiles
1/2 c. red wine or sherry vinegar
1 c. water
2 slices sliced bread (I used the Grand Central como that we have on hand for eggy bread)
1/2 c. olive oil
1 tomato, diced
1/4 c. almonds, lightly toasted
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced finely or put through a garlic press
1 tsp sweet paprika or a combination of sweet and smoked sweet paprikas
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Clean the New Mexico chiles of any dirt or dust and put in a small saucepan with the vinegar and water over medium heat
Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes
Drain the chiles and save the vinegar/water mixture for flavoring and thinning the Romesco
In a small to medium frying pan, heat 1/4 c. of the olive oil and fry the bread until it is golden on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside
Use the oil that is left in the frying pan to saute the tomato for a few minutes, until soft
Process the toasted almonds in the mini-chopper or food processor for a few seconds to start breaking them up
Add the bread and pulse again until they're both coarsely chopped
Add the soaked chiles, sauteed tomato, red pepper flakes, garlic, paprika and salt as well as the remaining 1/4 c. olive oil
Puree the mixture until it is well integrated but not perfectly smooth. Taste and add some of the vinegar water as needed. Adjust flavorings as desired
Keep at room temperature until you wish to serve. Works well as a sauce for fish, though we like to eat it as a spread

Evan's Waffles

2009-04-12T14:24:00.001-07:00

It appears that April is Breakfast Recipe Month here at EATS! Evan has adapted a Fanny Farmer recipe for waffles and we may even like them better than his dad's special Christmas sourdough waffle--at least for everyday baking. Evan's secret is to use three types of flour: all purpose, whole wheat pastry, and cornmeal. This blend works to produce exceptionally light and crispy waffles. In fact, it was her love of them that inspired Elspeth's first four-word sentence (at only a year and half!): I want more waffle. We ended up eating these plain but they'd also be good with the usual accompaniments.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. all purpose unbleached flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
1 TBSP baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c. milk
3 TBSP oil (vegetable oil or even melted coconut oil)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your waffle iron. We've got a Cuisinart (a specially engraved wedding gift, no less) that works perfectly on the number 4 setting
Combine the flours, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, add the milk and oil and mix thoroughly
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat well. Evan thinks the waffles were so light this time because he did incorporate a fair amount of air into the batter at this stage
Bake on your waffle iron as directed; find yourself saying, 'I want more waffle'

Sugar Duster

2009-04-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

This is more of a quick tip than a product review, but I was quite proud of my ingenuity. I don't use powdered sugar enough to warrant dedicating a shaker to it, but it is so messy to use a sieve to sprinkle it onto cakes and cookies. I decided to try using my mesh tea spoon strainer. (It's the kind of tea ball that has a handle on it like a spoon. You can see a picture here if you can't imagine what I mean). Just open the strainer and fill it with powdered sugar. Shake it over your target for perfectly applied whiteness. Then just open up the spoon and put back the excess. I was going to try to get a free set of issues from Cook's Illustrated with this tip, but it appears someone beat me to it (though the illustration shows a tea ball rather than the far superior--in my opinion--tea spoon strainer).

Buttermilk Pancakes

2009-04-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

This recipe is taken straight from the Darigold buttermilk carton--at least as it appeared many years ago when I stayed at my grandma's house in Seattle. I always loved her pancakes, perhaps in large part because she didn't do anything 'funny' to them.

My dad was the breakfast-maker in our household and he always liked to load any breakfast batter with 'secret ingredients'. Given that I was an extremely picky eater, this was not a matchbreakfasts even. However, breakfast remains my favorite meal. Perhaps it's not surprising that I became a cook quite early. I begged to make the breakfast batter and would often plead (sometimes successfully) for a 'plain' mixture. At Grandma's house, the pancakes were always made from scratch and I learned that it's just as easy and much tastier than using a mix.

These are what I jokingly refer to as 'junk food' pancakes, because they have no extra stuff thrown in like the banana blueberry pancakes. I do use whole wheat pastry flour, however, and do not find any uncomfortable flashbacks to the Krusteaz honey whole wheat horror of childhood.

The most recent batch of these I made yesterday were superb. They don't always turn out so perfectly, so I don't know what was different this time. Perhaps it was that I weighed the flour. I also used a cast iron griddle that straddles two gas burners, which cooks quite evenly. At any rate, the whole family was most pleased. Leftover pancakes should be kept at room temperature or frozen. I froze the remaining pancakes on a tray and then moved them to a ziplock bag so they'll come apart easily.

INGREDIENTS
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 TBSP sugar
2 eggs
2 c. buttermilk
2 TBSP butter, melted and slightly cooled

DIRECTIONS

Preheat a cast iron griddle over medium heat, if using. I found the trick is to preheat on medium and then turn the heat way down
Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside
Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl and then mix in the buttermilk
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just mixed (there may be some small lumps)
Now stir in the melted butter and mix gently
Turn the griddle down to low heat and coat very lightly with oil
Ladle small spoonfuls of pancake batter onto the griddle making sure to spread out the batter a bit; I get four pancakes per round on my griddle
You may wish to turn up the heat slightly while the pancakes are cooking
Cook on the first side until the edges dry a bit and you see bubbles forming in the center of the pancake
Flip to the other side and cook until the middle of the pancake is springy to the touch of a spatula
Remove to a plate and start another round. Serve while hot plain or with maple syrup, granulated sugar or jam

Evan's Gumbo

2009-03-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

It's live blogging time here (though I won't publish until we're all done). Evan is making gumbo right now to a rapt audience of a toddler and I'm finally going to capture the recipe! Elspeth quickly mastered the word 'gumbo' last time we had it and would scream it gleefully every meal. Now she has pirated an enormous quantity of ham and keeps calling for more. 'HAM!' she exhorts.

This may be the number one family favorite. One batch makes enough for 4 or 5 nights of dinner for our family, served with the Cajun Adaptation of Baked Brown Rice. It also freezes really well. This week, we'll be alternating gumbo with Roasted Squash 'Foup', which I made this time with red lentils for the best texture ever. Amazingly, neither of these meals has ground greens in it, but both would not be harmed by them!

We've taken to keeping ham and okra in the freezer so we can easily make this dish. We may have to buy celery and green peppers at the store. This summer, I'll buy green peppers from the farmers' market to freeze, as I did with the red, orange and yellow last year.

INGREDIENTS
1 TBSP (sweet) paprika
1/2-1 tsp ground white pepper
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cayenne (optional)
1 tsp dried basil
2 TBSP oil
2 pkg okra, thawed (1 lb each--we use frozen since it's nearly impossible to get fresh)
3 c. onions (approx 2 onions), diced
2 c. green pepper, diced (approx 1-2 peppers)
2 c. celery, diced (approx 4-6 ribs)
4 bay leaves
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 lb ham
1 1/2 lb smoked andouille sausage (we have started using smoked kielbasa to make it toddler-friendly)
8 c. chicken stock (ours is homemade unsalted--be careful of salt if using storebought)

DIRECTIONS

Mix all of the spices together in small bowl and set aside
Heat a 7 qt. Dutch oven over medium and add the oil
Once the oil is hot, add one package of okra
Saute the okra until soft
Add the onions, pepper and celery and continue saute until soft
Add remaining ingredients; bring the gumbo to a boil
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about an hour
To serve, put some Cajun brown rice in a bowl and ladle over a generous serving of gumbo

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

2009-03-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

When I feel we need a change from Flax Bran Muffins, this is one of my go-to recipes. I've rehabilitated it from the low-fat, oat bran earnestness of its era of origination into something I find tasty and nutritious. I had some grated zucchini in the freezer, so I did a combination of applesauce and zucchini that work very well indeed. I resisted the temptation to add chopped walnuts. I like nuts in muffins particularly if I want it to be a stand-alone breakfast so I don't have to worry about where the protein is coming from. However, we go to a nut-free preschool and it would be nice to have an easy snack to offer Elspeth. If you do decide to add nuts, I think chopped walnuts are the nicest; you'd probably also have good luck adding 1/2 cup of ground almonds.

These days, I'm finding excellent results with my oat recipes when I grind some of the oats into a flour and add some whole for texture. The original recipe didn't call for grinding and you could make it successfully that way. The oat flour does make for a better texture, though.

The imperfection I find in this recipe is that I often detect a slightly tinny taste, which I am guessing is due to too much baking soda or baking powder. If it bothers you, you could experiment with reducing the amounts to find the perfect balance of rise and flavor.

I got exactly one dozen muffins out of this recipe.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c. oats, ground into a flour
3/4 c. whole rolled oats
3/4 c. whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. ground flaxseeds
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts OR ground almonds (optional)
1 c. unsweetened applesauce (I made sauce from 2 apples)
OR 3/4 c. applesauce plus 3/4 c. grated zucchini
1/2 c. milk (suspecting non-dairy milk would be fine)
1/2 c. light or dark brown sugar, packed
3 TBSP oil
1 egg

OPTIONAL TOPPING:
Combine 1/4 c . oats, 1 TBSP brown sugar and 1 TBSP melted butter. Distribute evenly over muffins and press slightly to help keep the topping on

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers or spray with baking spray. I actually use a silicone muffin mold placed on a baking tray to avoid liners and spray
Combine the flours, oats, flaxseeds, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, salt and nuts if using in a large bowl
In a smaller bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and stir well
Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir just until combined
Scoop into a muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes or until golden (mine were actually done a few minutes early)
Remove from oven, cool for a few minutes, and then remove from muffin tin

My Favorite Pizza Sauce

2009-03-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the Spanish-Themed Cauliflower Soup recipe, I'm going to post my all-time favorite pizza sauce recipe from Patricia Wells. I haven't made homemade pizza since before Elspeth was born, which is a real shame, especially now that I want to try adding a layer of ground greens. (Taking inspiration from a Pegasus Pizza concoction, we have been putting spinach, frizzled chorizo and pine nuts on our pizza for years).

Funnily enough, Wells doesn't use the sauce for pizza at all, but for penne with zucchini. She calls it pizza sauce because the tomato/garlic/oregano combination is traditional for pizza.

I've modified her recipe over time to reduce the oil somewhat and streamline it since I'm not using the zucchini. I also use an immersion blender on it to ensure that the sauce is well integrated. I like some chunkiness but I want to avoid any wateriness or separation. Using canned ground tomatoes (like Muir Glen makes) is also a good option.

This sauce freezes very well and could be used over pasta if you don't want to make pizza.

INGREDIENTS
3-4 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (we used to make it spicier in pre-Elspeth days)
6-8 plump garlic cloves, slivered
28 oz can of tomatoes (whole, ground, or chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste
Balsamic vinegar to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS

In an unheated medium skillet or pot, combine the olive oil, rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes and garlic. Stir to coat thoroughly with oil
Cook over medium heat until the garlic is golden but not at all browned (2-5 minutes)
Add the tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, put them through a food mill or food processor before adding to sauce
Bring sauce to boil then reduce to simmer
Let the sauce simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it begins to thicken, 15-25 minutes
If you haven't used ground tomatoes or whole tomatoes that you've processed, you may wish to use an immersion blender on the sauce now. If the sauce still isn't the texture you prefer, you might wish to add a squirt or two of double-concentrated tomato paste (Cook's Illustrated chose Amore tomato paste in a tube as their winner)
Taste an adjust seasonings. Add balsamic vinegar if desired
Remove from heat and use as a pizza sauce or pasta topping

Spanish-Themed Cauliflower Soup

2009-03-18T09:52:00.001-07:00

This recipe is certainly a work in progress, though I think it has a lot of potential. It's a good example of my favorite way of cooking--one inspiration sparking another and then another. Yet again it's a Melanie connection. Melanie loved the idea of the Clementine Aioli and decided to try to translate it into soup. She said it was good, but not perfect. What an excellent idea, I thought, and decided to try my hand at it, too (without talking to Melanie about her approach).

I call my attempt Spanish-themed because, with nearly complete ignorance of Spanish food, it seemed to me kind of Spanishy to have garlic, olive oil, saffron and orange in there. If I wanted to Spanish it up even more, I'd consider adding some breadcrumbs or even ground almonds as a thickener (kind of like Romesco sauce). Of course, the real Spanish touch would have been to add smoked paprika, but I wanted to test myself by making that ingredient off limits, since I use it as a crutch so often.

Who knows if Melanie and I did the same thing or not, but our results were very similar: this soup is tasty, but astonishingly subtle. I say astonishingly because I don't think of cauliflower, garlic and saffron as subtle, certainly not in the quantities I used. The subtlety and lightness make this soup great for a first course, but not necessarily for a main course. Since we almost never have first courses in this household, this dooms it to the rarely-to-be-made category unless I solve some of the basic issues. Happily, I've got some ideas.

I'm going to give my guess at what the Version II of the recipe would look like, instead of giving you the original recipe. You really wouldn't want to bother with the original unless you were after an elegant first course soup. I will, of course, talk through my ideas.

I think that the soup needs a lot more fat. My theory here is that fat is a great deliverer of flavor. Without a good amount of fat, the garlic, orange and saffron were getting lost. To enhance the garlic flavor further, I'll use a Patricia Wells technique of cutting the garlic into slivers from the 'Penne with Zucchini and Spicy Pizza Sauce' recipe in the Trattoria cookbook (and I'm sure end up posting the sauce recipe, too, as it's now my standard pizza sauce). I also will add more orange zest. I had thought that orange juice was the way to go and I will still use some. But, as with the orange sauce from the Tofu with Orange Sauce recipe, it's very difficult to concentrate that flavor (and I don't think that orange juice concentrate would be better--I remember it having too cooked a taste).

I made my usual mistake the first time by adding way too much liquid. This meant I was scrambling to find good thickeners and battling 'thin' flavor. Silly me, I only had one can of white beans and that didn't do the job. I added a can of chickpeas, which are in keeping with the Spanish theme, but really there should have been only one type of legume in there. The soup was still not thick enough (poor Elspeth had to eat it over rice--not Spanish rice--to be able to get anything on her little spoon). The solution was potatoes (added the next day, in fact). I boiled some potatoes, added them to the soup and re-pureed the whole thing. Now the texture is luscious. I didn't start with potatoes because I wanted the protein that legumes provide since I'm trying to get a one-pot dinner out of this. Perhaps it's weird to have both legumes and potatoes in the soup, but I'd do it again to serve my nutritional goals.

Elspeth liked the soup okay over rice, but vastly preferred the potato-enhanced version. She particularly dug it once I added some small chunks of home-smoked sausage. (Thank you Evan for smoking up 12 pounds of sausage at a time so we can have a freezerful at the ready.) In her case, I used English bangers. For myself, I went a Moorish direction (kind of, sort of) by using merguez. The spicy merguez probably overwhelmed my meek little soup, but I still found the combination good to eat. If you are looking for a non-vegetarian version hearty enough for dinner, I recommend the sausage addition--you can just add it bowl by bowl since it's already fully-cooked.

Another good option would be to add small chunks of Spanish smoked chorizo, possibly lightly frizzled in a pan first to release some of the fat. There's a way to get in smoked paprika without violating my self-imposed dictum against it. It's not spicy, so the whole family could eat it. I was just looking on the Internet to see if I've reinvented an already-existing and tastier wheel with this soup and someone recommended making chorizo breadcrumbs! You saute the chorizo and then add breadcrumbs to soak up the wonderful pork-paprika fat. This idea is worth exploring...

Good news for anyone who is not a cruciferous vegetable fan: I don't think that someone who wasn't in the know would be able to identify this as cauliflower soup. To me that isn't a plus, but I am not sure there's much I could do about it without leaving the soup chunky and that doesn't appeal to me. Perhaps if I got the stock-to-ingredients ratio right, the cauliflower flavor might have more of a shot.

I think this recipe will change again after I try out Version II and make plans for Version III. How much cauliflower soup can one family handle?

INGREDIENTS
1/4 to 1/3 c. olive oil
8 cloves garlic, slivered
3 stalks celery, chopped (optional)
2 carrots, chopped (optional)
1 head cauliflower, chopped into medium-sized pieces
1-2 lb potatoes, chopped into pieces the same size as the cauliflower
1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
5 c. vegetable or chicken stock (or water, if that's all you've got)
1 large pinch saffron
1-2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained
Zest of one orange
1 c. orange juice or the juice of the orange you've zested
Salt and pepper to taste
Champagne or sherry vinegar for brightness if desired

Optional additions to each bowl: garlic croutons, chunks of smoked merguez or Spanish chorizo, chorizo breadcrumbs, chopped or slivered toasted almonds, a swirl of olive oil

DIRECTIONS

In an unheated medium to large Dutch oven or pot, combine the olive oil and garlic, stirring to coat the garlic thoroughly with oil
Turn the heat to medium or medium-low and very gently cook the garlic for a few minutes to release the flavor into the oil. You definitely do not want to brown the garlic
Add the celery, carrot, cauliflower, potatoes, coriander and stock or water to the pot
Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer
Let simmer until the cauliflower and potatoes are tender (this took much longer than I thought it would--my chunks may have been too big)
While the soup is simmering, let the saffron 'bloom'--place the pinch of saffron in a small bowl and cover with hot (not boiling) water. Let sit for at least 15 minutes
Once the vegetables in the pot are tender, add the beans, orange juice, bloomed saffron and its water. It's important that you do not let the soup boil again after this to protect the delicate flavors
Puree the soup until completely smooth, ideally using an immersion blender (transferring hot soup to a stand blender is the pits). You may need to add some more stock or water if I've got the proportions wrong; alternatively, this would be the time to add the second can of beans if I've messed it up in that direction
Add the orange zest, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding some vinegar if necessary
Serve immediately with desired toppings or cool and serve the following day--the flavor might even be better

Carrot Bar Cookies--Recipe Makeover

2009-03-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

In my never-ending quest for simplicity and tastiness, I ended up completely revamping the original Vegan Carrot Cookie recipe. I decided it makes the most sense to publish the two version separately. Personally, I'll be making only the bar cookie version from now on, but the original recipe from The Natural Health Cookbook is certainly just fine.

Some of the major differences between my makeover and the original recipe are as follows:

The recipe is no longer vegan, since I added an egg. If you want to keep the new recipe vegan, use flaxseed as an egg substitute: mix 1 TBSP ground flaxseeds with 2-3 TBSP water--the site I looked at suggested simmering the mixture for a few minutes, but I am pretty sure I've also seen it done raw
I used less whole wheat flour and ground up some of the oats into flour. I think this helped to lighten the texture
I ground up the carrots instead of grating them. I also used probably double the amount of carrots than I used to. I think that the carrot flavor is better distributed through the cookies with this method
I reduced the oil since the egg provides fat
I lowered the oven temperature and increased the baking time

This new version of the cookies ended up being delightfully fluffy and light. It's so much simpler to press the batter into an 8x8 inch square pan than making individual drop cookies. These cookies aren't about crispness (makes sense, since the original name is 'Chewy Carrot Cookies'), so you don't lose any lovely brown-n-crispy bits by the change.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. rolled or steel-cut oats ground into flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. rolled oats or unsweetened muesli (not ground)
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. raisins or other dried fruit
1 1/2 to 2 c. shredded carrot (4-6 carrots)
1 egg
1/2 c. maple syrup (could be reduced; I'm guessing agave would also work)
1/4 c. vegetable oil (original recipe specified corn; I used vegetable but am thinking coconut oil would also be delicious)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease or spray an 8x8 inch square pan (I used a glass pan; if you use metal you may need to lessen cooking time)
Toast the walnuts and then chop; set aside
Whip the syrup, oil, vanilla and egg or flax slurry in a small bowl
Grind the carrots finely in a food processor and stir into the syrup-egg mixture; set aside
Grind up the oats in a coffee mill or other grinder
Combine the wheat and oat flours with baking powder, salt and rolled oats in a large bowl
Stir in walnuts and raisins (you'll want to use the flour to help separate any raisin clumps)
Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until well blended
Press cookie mixture into the 8x8 inch pan
Bake until golden and slightly cracked on top, 20-30 minutes
Remove from oven; let cool slightly, then cut into 16 squares (you could cut into smaller squares if you've got kids)

The Glories of Ground Greens

2009-03-09T11:22:00.001-07:00

Ever since I hit on the technique of using the food processor for greens that I shared in the Delcious but Not Deceptive pasta puttanesca recipe makeover, I've been finding uses for them everywhere. We love the taste of greens, so perhaps everything we're eating tastes strongly of them and we're just not noticing, but I think that finely grinding the greens in the food processor mellows them out. I haven't had any twinges of bitterness or squeaking teeth enamel that I sometimes get from greens overload. Elspeth is going to think that almost every dish naturally has flecks of green in it. I will never lie to her about what the green stuff is and if she turns out to me more sensitive than me and Evan, the greens will go on the side to be added by those who wish it. But I love this new way of using the greens we become overloaded with in our CSA basket and of adding extra nutrition to our meals. The greens also smell soooo green (kind of like grass, really)--very refreshing.

I add these steamed ground greens to all our whole grains and pasta. I think they will be delightful as a thin layer under the sauce of homemade pizza (which I'll make again soon and post about). We already know they're excellent in puttanesca sauce. The possibilities are legion.

INGREDIENTS
1 bunch greens (we do tend to prefer the kale family)
Splash of water

DIRECTIONS

Take the stems off the greens (I use my garden shears) and wash them well
Grind the greens very finely in a food processor
Place greens in a microwave-safe bowl with a lid
Add a splash of water to the greens and loosely put on the lid
Cook in the microwave on high power for about 3 minutes
Use with abandon in a myriad of applications!

Baked Brown Rice and Cajun Adaptation

2009-03-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Though I'd say I have had pretty good luck with making brown rice on the stove, I'm currently enamored of the Cook's Illustrated 'Foolproof Oven-Baked Brown Rice' recipe. Oftentimes I'll need to use most of the burners on the stove and I love the ease of throwing the rice in the oven and forgetting about it. We do have a rice cooker (two, actually), but one is far too big to make rice for a small family and the other takes 2 hours to cook brown rice. We never have two hours to spare for cooking rice.

Evan made gumbo again recently (really, we will get that recipe on here at some point!) and we did Paul Prudhomme's Basic Rice recipe from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen using Cook's method and were pleased with the outcome. His recipe may actually be Creole rather than Cajun, so apologies if I chose the wrong appellation. That adaptation follows the generic recipe. We are thinking of trying an oven-baked jambalaya at some point, too, and will definitely post if we do. Prudhomme says to omit the green pepper if you're going to store the rice for any length of time, but we haven't found that it sours as he suggests.

I tried cooking a mix of brown rice and millet this way and it was not pretty. The millet soaked up most of the water, leaving the brown rice slightly crunchy. In future, I'll stick to cooking the grains separately.

GENERIC BAKED BROWN RICE
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 c. brown rice (long or short grain, jasmine, basmati, etc)
2 1/3 c. water
2 tsp butter or olive oil (optional)
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
Spread the rice the bottom of an 8-inch square pan (one with a lid is ideal, but we just use foil)
Bring the water and butter/oil to a boil in a small saucepan with a lid
As soon as the water comes to a boil, add the salt and pour over the rice in the square pan
Give the rice and water a quick stir and cover with the lid or a double thickness of foil
Put rice in the oven on the middle rack and cook for one hour
Remove rice from the oven and take off the lid or foil. Use a fork to fluff the rice
Cover the rice dish with a clean tea towel and let steam for 5 minutes; remove the tea towel and let sit another 5 minutes before serving

CAJUN ADAPTATION
To the ingredients listed above, add
1 1/2 TBSP very finely chopped onion
1 1/2 TBSP very finely chopped celery
1 1/2 TBSP very finely chopped green bell pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
A pinch each of white pepper, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS
Follow the instructions for the generic baked brown rice.

Tofu with Orange Sauce

2009-03-09T09:54:00.001-07:00

I recently discovered the 101 Cookbooks blog by Heidi Swanson, but I can't remember how I came across it. You can take it from me that EATS! will never look like 101 Cookbooks! There is some beautiful food photography on that site, which I'm sure you won't see here. The only recipe I've tried so far is the tofu adaptation of the Orange Pan-Glazed Tempeh recipe, and it was a winner. I'm not a tempeh fan, so quickly opted for tofu. A friend made it with tempeh and had very different (though still delicious) results.

The first time I made the dish, I used tofu that had been frozen. I cut it into cubes rather than the triangles shown in Swanson's photo. Perhaps this was a mistake, as there were many more surfaces to try to brown. I didn't manage to obtain well-browned tofu on all sides, but the end result was delicious. And surprising. I think it was because the tofu was previously frozen (since I couldn't replicate it with fresh tofu), but each bite of tofu actually burst in our mouths with sauce. I've never known that to happen before. It was wonderful. My disappointment was that the tofu had soaked up so much sauce that there was none to spoon over the brown rice and finely-ground steamed greens with which I served it. Of course, I used a lot more tofu than the recipe called for. And, yes, I understand that perhaps this is inevitable with a recipe referring to a Glaze rather than a sauce, but I optimistically call my version a sauce in the hopes that I'll find a way.

The second time I made the dish, I decided to see if I could infuse the tofu with flavor but still have leftover sauce for spooning. I marinated fresh tofu (that I had briefly pressed) and then browned it (in a non-stick skillet using the dry fry technique from the Seasoned Bok Choy and Tofu recipe from November '08). In a separate pan, I reduced the sauce. I must say, this approach was not very successful. The tofu tasted great, don't get me wrong, but it had absorbed far less of the marinade's flavor than in the previous attempt. In addition, the sauce took forever to reduce and had a slightly overcooked flavor. Sigh.

I think that Swanson's method is the one to use and I just have to resign myself to having no sauce for spooning. I'll use the previously-frozen tofu again next time and try making a batch and a half of sauce to see if I can both reduce to a glaze and have a little left over in the pan. If any readers have suggestions on how to have both bursting flavor and spoonable sauce, let me know.

This is a great application for the ginger juice I mentioned in February. The first two times I made this recipe, I followed Swanson's directive and squeezed my own orange juice. In future, I'm not going to bother (it's going to be cooked anyway, after all). Rather, I'll use the flash-pasteurized juice from the supermarket. (I was interested to learn that Cook's Illustrated found that it's also cheaper to use juice; I would have thought it would be cheaper to use whole oranges.)

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 large blocks firm, extra firm, or silken tofu (previously frozen and thawed with the water squeezed out)
1 1/2 c. freshly squeezed orange juice (3-4 large juicy oranges) or high-quality storebought
1 TBSP ginger juice
1 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP plus 1 tsp mirin
1 TBSP maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, crushed

DIRECTIONS

Make sure you've squeezed out the excess water from your previously-frozen tofu. Cut the blocks into squares or triangles (I get 16 per triangles per block, I think and probably 24 squares)
Mix the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside
Place a single layer of tofu in a nonstick pan with no oil and heat to medium (I had retired mine, but it works well at medium heat in this application). Alternatively, use 2 TBSP oil over medium in a cast-iron or stainless steel pan
Let the tofu cook on one side without moving it around until it develops a nice crust. This will take several minutes
Turn tofu over and repeat. If using squares, there are a lot of sides to cover! I wimped out after four browned sides. Triangles need only to be turned once
Give the sauce a stir and then pour over the tofu
Bring to a boil and then immediately lower heat so that the sauce simmers
Let simmer until the sauce has reduced to form a syrupy glaze/sauce. Swanson says about 10 minutes but I think mine took longer
Remove from heat and serve with grains and greens

At a recent dinner party, I did a build-your-own meal for vegetarians and carnivores. I served oven-baked brown jasmine rice, steamed carrots and broccoli, this tofu recipe and sliced roasted chicken breast, all to be topped with peanut sauce. It worked out very well and I was pleased to taste that the orange glaze and the peanut sauce complemented rather than clashed with each other. Most of us preferred the tofu to the chicken.

Homemade Bagels

2009-03-05T10:18:00.001-08:00

Thanks to my friend Melanie (oft-mentioned in this blog) for turning me on to the bagels recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. She mentioned that Elspeth just loved them and I was curious if the effort would be worth it. I can assure you, it is! There is an extra step in bagel-making because you boil the formed bagels in a sugar-soda water before baking. However, it didn't take too long for me to get the hang of forming and boiling the bagels. I wanted to know if you could complete the recipe through boiling and then freeze the bagels (well-wrapped) so that you can bake them individually. I asked on their website and Jeff told me that he thinks it would. (I think it's so cool how responsive the authors are. They have a website http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ and you can ask them questions. I've done this twice now and heard responses within a day.)

The deliciousness of a bagel fresh out of the oven is hard to match. They taste nothing like a storebought bagel--they have this lovely, crispy crust but still a soft, moist interior. Even reheated the next day, they are still far superior to most supermarket bagels. If you have a toaster oven, Evan hit on the great idea of toasting the bagel on a light/medium setting without slicing it first. This refreshes the crisp crust without compromising the moist interior.

I used our starter again for this, just as I do with the Delicious, Crusty Bread recipe. My starter had just been replenished and hadn't had time to charge up much, so at first I worried that my dough was 'dead'. I left it in the fridge for several days and was pleased to find that time had worked its magic and my bagels had plenty of lift.

I ended up using a hodge-podge of flours here (all purpose, whole wheat bread flour and whole wheat pastry flour) because I was running out of some things. It worked out fine. In future I'll try a mix of all purpose and whole wheat bread flour but I'm not sure what proportions I'll settle on.

An easy way to add flavor to the bagels is to sprinkle them with things like onion powder, garlic powder or even cinnamon sugar after boiling and prior to baking.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup sourdough starter (the batter-like kind)
2 TBSP kosher or Maldon salt
1 1/2 TBSP sugar
5 3/4 c. (28.75 oz or 1 lb 12.75 oz) flour total--try a mix of whole wheat bread flour and unbleached all purpose flour such as 14 oz. whole wheat flour plus 14.75 oz. all purpose flour

5-8 quarts water
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp baking soda

Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon sugar or other seeds and spices for toppings

DIRECTIONS

You'll need a clean 6 qt container that is not absolutely airtight. I use a Rubbermaid 'Servin' Saver' 6 qt square container and have been very happy with it
Put the water, starter, salt and sugar in the container and give it a mix
Put the container on your scale and zero it out
Add the whole wheat flour to make the total 14 ounces
Add the unbleached all purpose flour until you have a grand total of 1 lb 12.75 ounces on the scale (or 28.75 oz if your scale works that way)
Use a large wooden spoon to mix the flours into the water. You are not aiming to knead the dough and you should expect a pretty wet dough. After I mix as much as I can with the spoon, I went my hands and mix the dough with them until the flour is incorporated. Again, you're not kneading, you just don't want dry and wet patches
Place the lid on the container loosely and put the dough in the fridge for a day or two. Using the starter makes the rising take longer but the flavor is superb. You can speed things up slightly by leaving the dough out at room temperature for 8 hours.
You know your dough is active when you see air bubbles in it and it has risen

DOUGH PREPARATION

Set out a baking tray lined with Silpat or parchment for your dough lumps
If you're going to bake your bagels right away, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F with a pizza stone set on the middle rack and a broiler tray on the shelf underneath
Remove the dough container from fridge and sprinkle with all-purpose flour
Weigh out as many 3 oz (or smaller) dough lumps for the number of bagels you wish to make. Because I want to try the boil-n-bake-later approach, I'd weigh out all of my dough and would expect about a dozen and a half bagels (always less than the authors say--maybe it's the starter)
Working quickly, shape into a flattened ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you do this (that's nearly verbatim from the book but is still hard to explain until you've done it)
Place on your lined baking tray and cover lightly with plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes (I've let them sit for longer with no ill effects). Proceed to the boiling step

BOILING THE BAGELS

Prepare another baking tray lined with a tea towel and sprinkled with flour
If you are going to use the freeze-ahead method, you'll need a baking tray lined with Silpat or parchment
If you are going to bake the bagels right away, you'll need to prepare a peel to get the bagels in the oven by sprinkling it with flour. I highly recommend the Super Peel; I don't think I could use a regular peel successfully. If you don't have a peel, take a baking tray and line it with Silpat or parchment and either put the whole tray in the oven or lift out the lining and put the lining directly on the baking stone
Using a large Dutch oven (ours is 7+ quarts) or a stock pot, bring the water to a boil. The authors suggest 8 quarts, but we don't have a pot that big and it seems extreme. It's true that my bagels do sink to the bottom of the pot and stick for a while until they float, but I'm guessing they'd do that in any size of pot
Once the water has boiled, lower heat to a simmer and add the sugar and baking soda
Now you'll form your bagels. I was surprised at how easy this was--the dough felt wonderfully silky and behaved well. Take each dough lump and use your thumbs to make a hole in the center. Work the dough around the outside so that it's evenly distributed around the hole. The hole needs to be 2-3 times the width of the bagel wall or it'll close up entirely during baking
Drop the bagels gently in the water one at a time trying not to crowd them too much (I can do six at a time in my Dutch oven)
Simmer for two minutes. Most times, the bagels will sink to the bottom and then float up before the two minutes is up. If they haven't, I gently prod them with a slotted spoon and ease them off the bottom of the pot
Flip the bagels over and simmer for an additional minute. Test for doneness by using a slotted spoon to lift the bagel out. Several of mine have been really squashy so I've let them cook a bit longer. The bagels shouldn't be hard or anything, but you'll get the hang of it once you've handled a squashy one
Remove the bagels to the tea towel sprinkled with flour to absorb some of the water
Proceed either to the FREEZE FOR LATER or BAKING DIRECTIONS sections

FREEZE FOR LATER
Bagels are the one bread that should be eaten hot from the oven. The texture is incomparable! Thus, I am going to try boiling all of my bagels and then freezing them to bake at will.

Once your bagels have sat on their tea towel for a moment, line them up on your baking tray with Silpat, parchment or waxed paper. You're going to freeze the bagels on this tray first so that when you bag them, they won't stick together
Put the tray in the freezer (we're lucky to have an outside freezer with lots of room. If you've got a small or full freezer, you'll have to improvise) and freeze until solid
Transfer the bagels to a very thick freezer bag, or you could wrap them in foil and then bag them. They'll be susceptible to picking up odors/flavors from the freezer, so wrapping them well is key
On the day you're ready to bake them or the night before, set the desired number of bagels onto a metal tray (this helps them to thaw faster) and leave until thawed. It may be possible to bake from frozen, but I suspect you'll have a better result if you thaw them fully first
Once the bagels are thawed, proceed to BAKING DIRECTIONS

BAKING DIRECTIONS

Twenty minutes before you want to bake the bagels, preheat the oven to 450 degrees if you haven't already done so. You want the rack in the middle, preferably with a baking stone on it (hence the preheating for so long). A second rack should have a broiler tray or something that can hold water.
Boil 1 cup of water or have really hot water from the tap and have it ready by the oven
Prepare your peel by sprinkling it with flour if you haven't already done so. If you don't have a peel or Super Peel, take a baking tray and line it with Silpat or baking parchment
Place the freshly-boiled or thawed bagels on your prepared surface and sprinkle with the desired toppings
Use peel to transfer the bagels onto the baking stone. Alternatively, put the whole tray in the oven or lift out the lining and put the lining directly on the baking stone
Quickly add the boiling water to the broiler tray and close the oven
Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the bagels are golden
Eat immediately or refresh later in a toaster oven without slicing

Revamped recipes

2009-03-04T13:16:00.001-08:00

Thought I'd mention that over time I've altered a few recipes to make them easier or tastier. In particular, I changed the Oat Blueberry Banana Pancakes recipe and the Energy Treats recipe.

Teriyaki Ground Turkey and Vegetables

2009-02-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

Who needs Hamburger Helper? This recipe is a slightly gussied-up version of an old bachelor staple of Evan's. It's perfect for a quick weeknight dinner. I've labeled it vegetarian because, though we use ground turkey, I think you could easily use vegetarian 'grounds' such as Yves. We were lucky enough to obtain some heritage ground turkey from the farmers' market and it was delicious. We were surprised at just how much Elspeth loved this dinner, particularly since there were quite a few textures going on. We serve this meal over whole wheat couscous.

We did pre-steam the carrots and broccoli for a toddler's benefit. If you don't mind if the veggies are crunchier, you could just add them to the skillet raw.

INGREDIENTS
1 TBSP olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey
1 large handful crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 red or yellow pepper, diced
2-3 medium carrots, sliced or diced and steamed
1/4 to 1/2 head broccoli, chopped and steamed
1 recipe teriyaki sauce

DIRECTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat
Add the ground turkey and cook until lightly browned
Add the mushrooms and continue cooking until the liquid is released and has mostly evaporated
Add the diced peppers and continue cooking for a few minutes
Add the pre-steamed carrots and broccoli
Stir in about 1/2 c. teriyaki sauce and then taste; add more sauce as necessary
Remove from heat and serve over whole wheat couscous. You can also add some extra sauce to the couscous

Teriyaki Sauce and Ginger Juice

2009-02-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

Here are two more ideas from the Natural Health cookbook by Dana Jacobi. It's hard to find a decent bottled teriyaki sauce because they seem mostly to be sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. We like this homemade version quite a lot; the only change we made was to add a bit of brown sugar since the sauce wasn't quite balanced to our tastes. The other idea is a way to add ginger flavor to a dish without the texture of the pulp. I plan on making up a big batch of ginger juice and freezing it in ice cube trays. Because you're extracting only the juice from the ginger, you don't need to bother peeling it.

TERIYAKI SAUCE

INGREDIENTS
1/3 c. sake
1/3 c. mirin
1/3 c. soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp ground ginger or an equivalent amount of ginger juice
1-2 tsp brown sugar or to taste (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Mix together all ingredients except the ginger and brown sugar in a small saucepan
Bring to a boil over medium heat
Reduce heat and add ginger; simmer until the honey is dissolved
Taste the sauce and add brown sugar as desired; simmer until brown sugar is dissolved
Remove from heat and either use or cool and refrigerate for 2-3 weeks

GINGER JUICE
Grate a large knob of ginger--we use a Microplane. Place grated ginger in some cheesecloth and squeeze out the liquid into ice cube trays. Freeze and then put into a freezer bag. Use anytime you want the flavor of ginger without the pulp. You could even try adding a small cube to a glass of lemonade or any other beverage that might be nice with a ginger boost.

Delicious but I don't call it deceptive

2009-02-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

I am really not a fan of the premise of such cookbooks as Deceptively Delicious, which advocates fooling one's children into eating healthy food by sneaking vegetables into recipes. I think I would have been a picky child in any case, but that kind of subterfuge coupled with techniques like setting the timer on me to finish my meal, made a bad situation far worse and I've only started to recover from it in the last decade or so. Lying to those I feed doesn't really work for me. That said, I never minded it when my mom put wheat germ in the chocolate chip cookies because there was never any secret about it. It was there, I liked the cookies, end of story.

It is with this latter attitude that I share an innovation on the already-simplified puttanesca sauce I published in November. In that recipe, I recommend cooking the greens in the pasta water and serving with the pasta and sauce. This is still a great technique to make your pasta water do double duty.

However, though Elspeth is still a wonderful eater, we do find that she can be challenged by too many textures in one dish, especially now that she's spooning it up herself. I wanted to find a way to retain the greens, but ensure that she could happily eat the whole mess of ingredients with no troubles.

My new technique is even simpler and fuller of good stuff! What I did this time was to use my food processor on half a bunch of lacinato kale until it was very fine. Then I finely chopped 5 or 6 small carrots in the food processor. I did them separately to ensure that each vegetable was evenly chopped, but you could try combining them and see if the end result is uniform enough. I added both of these vegetables to the garlic and olives and cooked them for several minutes before adding the tomatoes and proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

The final sauce is less 'saucy', so I added a few spoonfuls of the pasta cooking water (after the pasta was cooked) to help integrate it. I made no other changes to the proportions of ingredients and served the sauce, as usual, on whole wheat penne.

Because the original recipe wasn't exactly unctuous or luscious in texture, I don't feel there was a huge sacrifice by adding the kale and carrots. The deep green flavor of the kale is very nicely offset by the sweetness of the carrots, which also act to balance the tanginess you can get with the brine left on the olives or the tomatoes.

It was a hit for the whole family and we'll definitely be changing our standard technique to this one.

INGREDIENTS
5-6 cloves garlic
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 c. pitted kalamata or mixed olives (or to taste)
1/2 to 1 bunch greens (kale, chard and spinach all work well), washed
5-6 small to medium carrots
1 28 ounce can whole, peeled tomatoes, diced tomatoes or ground tomatoes (I never use the kind that have basil or any other flavoring in them, though you may like to)
Small pinch red pepper flakes or to taste
Fresh ground pepper
Enough whole wheat penne pasta for your family for 1 or 2 meals (we like lots of greens so though the sauce lasts 3-4 nights, we often make pasta and greens every night or every other night)

DIRECTIONS

Place a large pot of water on to boil, covered, on high heat
Chop the garlic (use a full sized food processor if you have one)
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil
Add the garlic to the skillet and coat with the oil; cook for a few minutes
While the garlic is cooking, dump the pitted olives into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped (but not a paste)
Add the olives to the skillet and stir well
Add the red pepper flakes and some ground pepper
Process the greens until fine; stir greens into the skillet and cook for a few minutes
Process the carrots until finely ground; stir into the skillet and continue cooking for a few minutes
If using whole or diced tomatoes (anything but ground), process them in the same food processor until very fine--I like to use the tomatoes ground up this way because I feel it makes a thicker, more luxurious sauce than having chunks of tomato with somewhat watery juice)
Add the tomatoes to the skillet and stir; bring to a simmer then turn the heat to low and stir occasionally
The pasta water is likely to be boiling now
Add the sea salt and then the pasta and cook pasta according to package directions and your taste. Save some of the pasta water to add to the sauce for texture, if desired
The sauce should be about done now, too. Taste and adjust the seasonings. You may wish to add some balsamic or red wine vinegar, more pepper flakes or ground pepper
Serve up pasta and sauce and enjoy

Orange and Lemon Cake

2009-02-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

All of Evan's family lives in our area, so we're able to get together about once a month for family dinner to celebrate one thing or another. Everyone brings a dish to share and we're most often tasked with dessert. I hadn't really thought of myself as a fancy baker: I've always made cookies and simple cakes. But in Evan's family, I'm proud to say I have a reputation for coming up with creative and tasty celebratory desserts. All of the cakes are un-iced, since I have a well-known aversion to frosting. We often will accompany the cake with homemade ice cream, though this dessert is paired with a simple raspberry sauce.

This month it's my and Evan's mom's birthday. I've frequently made this cake from Patricia Wells' Trattoria cookbook since navel oranges are supposedly at their peak around now and I do love a good orange cake. Wells says she likes it for breakfast and I can understand why! The only small changes I've made to the recipe are that I like to use whole wheat pastry flour (and haven't discerned that the final cake is negatively affected) and that the organic oranges were quite small so I decided to use two instead of one. I recommend using organic orange and lemon since the zest is such an important part of the recipe.

Wells really likes vanilla sugar, which is widely used in France and Italy for desserts. To make it, simply take clean 'spent' vanilla pods (use the inner seeds and pulp for another purpose) and plunge them in sugar to infuse it with vanilla essence. I rarely bother with this and use a combination of sugar and vanilla extract instead.

INGREDIENTS
1 orange (or 2 if the oranges are quite small)
1 lemon
3/4 c. whole milk (I've used milk with less fat but we always have whole in the house these days)
3 c. all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour (or 15 ounces)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
16 oz. (two sticks, 1 lb) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
1 1/2 c. vanilla sugar (see note above) OR
1 1/2 c. (evaporated cane juice) sugar plus 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 large eggs
Powdered (icing or confectioner's) sugar for dusting if desired
Raspberry sauce (optional--recipe follows)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 and either butter of flour the Bundt pan, use Baker's Joy or another flour/oil spray, or substitute something like Pam for the butter and flour the pan (the latter is what I did this time and, while I think butter tastes better than Pam, this couldn't be beat for ease of use. I had Baker's Joy but it kept clogging and so I got rid of it)
Zest the orange(s) and lemon and set zest aside
Juice the orange(s) and lemon and combine with the milk. Set aside so the milk with curdle
Sift the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together into a large bowl. Add the zests and stir well
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy using a stand or hand-held mixer (or, if you're feeling brawny, your arms and a whisk)
Add the eggs one and a time, mixing well after each one. Wells says (rightly) that the mixture will look rather curdled once the eggs are added and that this is expected
Now add 1/3 of the flour and mix well. Follow with 1/3 of the curdled milk and mix
Repeat until all of the flour and milk are incorporated
Pour the batter into the Bundt pan and smooth it so the batter is evenly distributed
Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes and check for doneness with a toothpick--if it comes out clean, the cake is done, even if the cracks seem moist
Set the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool, then use a knife to loosen the cake from the outside and inner ring of the Bundt pan (loosening from the center section is especially important and easy to forget)
Invert the pan onto the cooling rack or serving plate and cool
When the cake is room temperature, use a sieve to sprinkle icing sugar over the top
Serve plain, with creme fraiche, ice cream, or raspberry sauce

RASPBERRY SAUCE
This simple recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

INGREDIENTS
2 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 to 1/2 c. evaporated cane juice sugar
1/4 c. water
1 tsp framboise, kirsch or vodka if desired

DIRECTIONS

Put raspberries in a bowl
In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture is clear with no grains
Pour over the raspberries and mix in. Madison has you sieve the raspberries to remove the seeds first, but I never bother
Add the liqueur (or liquor) to taste if desired. If you want to balance the flavor without adding alcohol, you might consider a touch of lemon zest or even orange zest if serving with the above cake

Oat Blueberry Banana Pancakes

2009-02-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

Here's another goodie from the Whole Life Nutrition cookbook. It's a good recipe for anyone who is gluten intolerant or who doesn't eat eggs. Elspeth was a little dubious until Evan gave her a bit with a jammy blueberry in it. After that, she couldn't be stopped. Since she did greatly prefer the 'bluble' bites (as we jokingly call blueberries), I would significantly bump up the blueberries in this recipe. The original calls for one small banana; I had half of a large one and used that. The banana flavor was subtle, so I would be tempted next time to use a whole banana of whatever size. Because have no dairy issues in our house, I used whole cow's milk instead of rice milk. The trick to using any kind of milk is that it can't be refrigerator cold or else the coconut oil will harden after you've gone to all the troubled to melt it. If you're using a fresh box (at room temp) of non-dairy milk you can skip the warming step. I found that a 1/2 cup pancake was rather large and also dropping it from a measuring cup onto the griddle made the pancake a bit thick and difficult to cook through. Instead, I just used a large deep spoon and spread the batter onto the griddle to ensure a slightly thinner cake.

I'm editing this post on February 21st to say that the greater quantities of blueberries and whole large banana worked well. The other thing that was really nice was that I replaced 1/2 c. of the oats with 1/2 c. of ground almonds to add more protein and other nutrients. This made the batter much thinner so we didn't need to add more milk. The addition of an extra 1/4 c. of ground flaxseed helped the texture even more and was tasty. I also added 1/4 tsp salt and I think the pancakes were lighter as a result. However, it's still very important to spread the batter onto the griddle instead of forming a pool of it. Otherwise, the edges cook but the middle does not and so the cakes are impossible to flip.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 c. rolled oats (she specified thick-cut but I used medium) OR 1 c. rolled oats plus 1/2 c. ground almonds (almond meal)
1/4 c. ground flaxseed (optional for extra texture and Omega 3)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine salt (as opposed to kosher or coarse salt)
1 1/4 c. rice milk (or other non-dairy or cow's milk)
2 TBSP melted coconut oil plus more for the griddle (I use non-virgin coconut oil which doesn't give a pronounced coconut flavor)
1 TBSP maple syrup or agave nectar
1 banana
1/2 to 1 c. blueberries--thaw first if using frozen and make sure they're not too cold

DIRECTIONS

Make a flour out of the rolled oat by grinding in a coffee grinder or other such device
Combine oat flour, ground almonds, ground flaxseed, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl
Mash the banana in the bottom of a medium microwave-safe bowl (in case you need to warm your milk)
Add the milk and maple syrup to the banana
If using 'milk' from the fridge, be sure to warm it to at least room temperature before proceeding (40 seconds in the microwave on high worked for me)
Now, add the melted coconut oil. If it seizes up because the coconut oil gets too cold, microwave again for 40 seconds or so
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix until just moistened
Fold in the blueberries and add more milk if the batter is too thick
Heat a large skillet (I actually use our cast iron griddle that straddles two gas burners) over medium-low heat
Brush with coconut oil and ladle the batter onto the skillet or griddle (no more than 1/2 c. per pancake, smaller if little tykes will be eating them; the second time I made these, I used a 1/8 c. measure). Make sure to spread the batter out well, even if it's very liquidy
Cook for a few minutes on the first side. You can tell they're getting done in a similar way to traditional pancakes. You won't see bubbles forming, but the sides of the pancakes will start looking a little dry. If you're worried, lift up a corner to see if it's your desired brownness
Flip the pancakes and cook for an additional few minutes. Remove to a warming plate or serve
Brush the griddle or skillet with a bit more coconut oil and continue with the next round. I made 7 decent-sized pancakes with this amount of batter. When I did dollar-sized pancakes, the recipe made more like 16-18 pancakes.

Better Than Homemade Hummus

2009-02-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

My intention was to post about the Cook's Illustrated 'Restaurant-Style Hummus' recipe since we've had some success with it. Two things changed my mind. One is that, though we love the technique they employ to obtain the kind of super-smooth, creamy hummus we prefer, their preferred ratios of tahini, lemon and garlic aren't exactly right. I was going to mess about with the recipe some more to arrive at our perfect proportions, but then the second thing struck me: we have no fault to find at all with Trader Joe's Mediterranean Style Hummus. We like the texture and the balance of flavors. Sure, if one wanted to maximize, I suppose some subtle improvements might be nice. But, by and large, we could eat this hummus daily and often do, Elspeth included. It's closer to our hummus ideal than the Cook's recipe without making any changes.

I'm one of those people who makes most food from scratch and did so before being a mom, though I'd say I'm more, well, fanatical about it now. Because we liked the Cook's hummus technique, I felt obliged to make our own hummus all the time. But then I realized that this is silly. Sure, the Trader Joe's hummus isn't organic, but the fact is anything I make at home isn't going to be any fuller of local ingredients than TJ's, one of our other key values. I'm giving myself permission to save the time and energy I would have put toward trying to perfect the Cook's recipe. We're going to keep stocking our fridge with Trader Joe's Mediterranean Style Hummus (which, the way, Elspeth likes in combination with the Olive and Sun Dried Tomato Spread for her lunches). And maybe I'll use that time and energy I'm saving to do something fun.

PS The other alternative we have to the TJ hummus, is one that we found at our farmers' market. It's not quite as tasty as the TJ stuff, nor as wonderfully creamy. However, what makes it special is that all the ingredients are local, from the chickpeas to the oil (with the exception of lemon juice, I think). They use grapeseed oil instead of olive oil and some seed akin to flaxseed instead of sesame (tahini). It ain't cheap ($5 for a pot half or a third the size of a TJ hummus), but we can add it to our hummus repertoire and it'll still keep me out of the kitchen!

Tuscan Cranberry Bean Stew

2009-01-27T10:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a fantastic recipe from the March 2008 issue of Cook's Illustrated. It does take a fair amount of time, but not effort, so just plan to make it on a day when you'll be hanging around the house anyway. The recipe calls for cannellini beans, and those would be fine, but I find cannellini ever-so-slightly mealy, much like their red kidney bean siblings. We are fortunate to have access to locally-grown beans. We get them fresh in their pods in the autumn and then can buy them dried in winter. We really like cranberry beans (also known as borlotti beans), as they're incredibly creamy. If you can't find them (I've never seen them in a grocery store), just use cannellini beans.

I did do the long brine for the beans, which I believe contributed to the well-balanced flavor and creamy texture. I've made the soup using canned beans before and it's perfectly acceptable, you'll just lose out a bit on the texture. I'm sure the short-brine would also be fine (half the amount of water and the same amount of salt heated to a boil then poured over the beans and steeped for 1 hour).

For the most part I followed the Cook's recipe as written, but there were a few modifications. I only had homemade turkey stock on hand, so I used that instead of chicken stock. I only had extra large cans of tomatoes in the house, and I used all of them rather than saving half for another purpose. Instead of pancetta, I used our 'house bacon', the tasty thick-cut pepper bacon we get from the butcher.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb dried cranberry beans, rinsed and picked over
3 TBSP salt (I used Diamond Crystal kosher salt
4 qt cold water
1 TBSP olive oil
6 oz pancetta or pepper bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces or lardons
1 large onion, chopped (I had some leeks on had so used those, too) 1 1/2 cups approx
2 medium celery ribs, chopped approx 1 cup
2 medium carrots, chopped approx 1 cup
8 medium garlic cloves, minced or put through a press (I used my mini-chopper)
4 c. chicken or turkey broth (low-sodium if using storebought)
3 c. water (I actually used 4 c. as I had a bit more than 1 lb. of beans)
2 bay leaves (I used 3 fresh ones)
1 bunch/1 lb. greens (I used lacinato kale aka dino kale or cavolo nero), trimmed and chopped
14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed
1 sprig fresh rosemary

DIRECTIONS

Dissolve the 3 TBSP salt in the 4 quarts of water. Add the beans and soak at room temp anywhere from 8 to 24 hours (I think I did about 16 hours). Drain and rinse the beans
Make sure your oven rack is in the lower middle and then preheat the oven to 250 degrees
In a Dutch oven or other large, lidded pot (that will eventually go into the oven), heat the oil on medium heat and cook the bacon/pancetta until the fat has rendered and it's golden brown
Add the onion, celery and carrots and continue cooking until the vegetables are soft and lightly golden (10-16 minutes)
Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so until it's fragrant
Add the broth, water, bay leaves, and beans to the pot, keeping it on the stove
Turn up the heat to high and bring the stew to a simmer
Cover the pot and put it into the oven. Cook until the beans are nearly done, 45 minutes to 1 hour
Take the pot out of the oven to stir in the tomatoes and greens. Cover the pot again and return to the oven for a further 30-40 minutes. The beans should be fully tender and the greens nicely cooked
Remove the pot from the oven a final time. Submerge the sprig of rosemary in the stew for 15 minutes with the pot covered
Remove the rosemary and bay leaves and adjust the seasonings
You can smash some of the beans on the side of the pot to thicken the broth if desired or even use an immersion blender. This time I did neither, since the beans were so creamy and tender that I didn't want to mess with them at all
Serve with Delicious, Crusty Bread

Olive and Sun Dried Tomato Spread

2009-01-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

I used to make this recipe quite frequently for lunches when I lived in the UK. For whatever reason, it fell off my radar for a few years. I thought of it again for a couple of child-related reasons: Elspeth loves puttanesca sauce and is also getting into the idea of spreads and dips. This spread was a hit for the whole family on the Tall Grass baguette from the farmers' market. When I get my act together, I'll be making Delicious, Crusty Bread to accompany it. (By the by, if you live in our area, Tall Grass baguettes are the closest to the good ones I had in France by a wide margin).

The recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks by one of my favorite cookbook authors, Patricia Wells' Trattoria. That and her Bistro Cooking are mainstays. She calls it Red Pesto or Pesto Rosso and I'm sure that is the name she found for it in Italy, but it doesn't seem anything like pesto to me. Because the olives are an important ingredient, I feel it's more like a tapenade with sun-dried tomatoes. I just went for a descriptive name instead of causing debate about what constitutes a pesto or a tapenade.

Wells uses salt-cured olives, but we don't often have these around, so I used brine-cured kalamatas instead. I also use less olive oil than she does--if you want a sauce as opposed to a spread, feel free to add the full 6 tablespoons she calls for. Finally, I added a tiny bit of clementine zest. Wells taught me that baked pasta is delicious when you butter the baking dish and then put orange zest in it. I know this is a bit much for some diners, but I adore it. I extrapolated that idea to this spread with great success--it's more subtle than in the baked pasta.

Here again I use my trusty mini food processor as the recipe doesn't really make enough for a full sized food processor.

We were lucky to find organic sun-dried tomatoes at the farmers' market and I used those. If you use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, you'll either want to rinse them or reduce the amount of olive oil in the recipe. Wells uses her homemade sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed) but mentions nothing in her recipe about reconstituting the tomatoes. I chose to soak my tomatoes in a couple of tablespoons of boiling water and then use the water in the spread--I think the texture is nicer that way. I've also substituted roasted cherry tomatoes for the sun dried ones with great success.

INGREDIENTS
10 sun-dried tomatoes or 1/4 c. roasted cherry tomatoes
1 garlic clove, put through a garlic press or finely minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional) or to taste
3 TBSP olive oil (or up to 6 TBSP)
20 pitted kalamata olives or salt-cured black olives such as Gaeta or Nyons
2 tsp minced fresh thyme or to taste
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary (she says 1 TBSP but I find rosemary overpowering and like to tone it down)
1/2 tsp clementine or orange zest (lemon might also work)
Pepper to taste (you shouldn't need salt)

DIRECTIONS

If desired, soften the sun-dried tomatoes in a couple of tablespoons of boiling water. If using oil-packed tomatoes, rinse if you wish
Place all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a mini-food processor and process until it forms a coarse paste
Add the olive oil and process further to your preferred texture. Wells states that the sauce should be on the chunky side
You can store the spread in the fridge for up to a month if you cover the top of it with a thin film of olive oil
Serve on bread, crisp flatbread (someday I'll post Wells' Sardinian Parchment Bread recipe--the spread would be great on that), or even pasta

Smoothie Shortcut

2009-01-25T11:29:00.001-08:00

So, I keep forgetting to soak my almonds and cashews the night before I want to make a smoothie. I decided to see if the same concept used for quick-soaking dried beans might work for nuts. Eureka! I think the result is acceptable. I take the nuts and cover them with water. I microwave them (making sure there is room for the water to bubble) at 50% power for 5 minutes and then let them sit for another 5. I rinse them and then follow the smoothie recipes as usual.

Broccoli Bake with Garlic Breadcrumbs

2009-01-25T11:04:00.001-08:00

I've been making Broccoli Bake for years--so long I can't remember where I learned it. I know that I was making it as early as Christmas of 1994 when dear friends and I spent the holidays in a flat near Edinburgh. Ah, the memories. The garlic breadcrumb idea I'm pretty sure came from the Natural Health cookbook.

This is a a great one for kids, provided they don't reject the sight of broccoli and will give it a taste. Most of the time I have made the vegetarian version, but as I had some chicken gravy in the freezer, I used that for this most recent dish. I've often used Quorn pieces in addition to the broccoli; you could use chicken if you wanted protein but don't like fake meat.

I had both broccoli and cauliflower in the fridge, so used a combination, which was tasty. I had dried and saved cubes of leftover Delicious, Crusty Bread and used them for the breadcrumbs. I served the Bake with Sweet Potato 'Fries', though I just cooked them alongside the Bake and they cooked just fine at 350 degrees and puffed just as they do at 450.

This dish has several parts, but they're not too complicated. It is helpful to make a double batch of gravy so that you have some in the freezer for next time.

BREADCRUMB TOPPING
INGREDIENTS
1-2 c. stale bread (whatever you've got on hand--you can also stale fresh bread in the oven)
1 clove garlic, put through a garlic press or very finely minced
1-2 TBSP olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Crush the stale bread in a food processor until it's in fine crumbs
Add the garlic and pulse to combine
While the food processor is running, add the olive oil--you don't want the mix to be wet and stick together, so just add enough oil for flavor and crispness
Add salt and pepper to taste and pulse
Set mixture aside

GRAVY
I like to make my gravy quite thick when using it for Broccoli Bake, but you can use more traditional proportions of butter and flour (usually 1 TBSP of each for 1 cup of liquid) if you prefer

INGREDIENTS
3 TBSP butter (I'm sure you could use olive oil if you want a vegan dish)
3 TBSP all purpose flour (though I bet you could use whole wheat pastry flour or a combination of flour and nutritional yeast)
2 c. vegetable stock, chicken stock or either one in combination with milk
1 sprig fresh thyme (use 1-2 tsp dried if you don't have fresh and don't discard at the end)
1 bay leaf (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat
Stir in the flour to make a paste and cook until golden (could be as much as 10 minutes)
Turn off the heat (if using gas--remove from the burner entirely if using an electric stove) and add the liquid, a little bit at a time, stirring constantly
Continue adding the liquid. After you've added about half of it, you can start adding larger quantities at a time
Once all the liquid is incorporated, return to medium heat and add the thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper
Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring very frequently, and let boil for a few minutes
Discard the thyme and bay leaf, if using
Set aside until you're ready for it (you can make the gravy up to 2 days ahead and can freeze any leftovers)

BROCCOLI BAKE
INGREDIENTS
1 head broccoli including stems OR
1/2 head broccoli and 1/2 head cauliflower
1 package Quorn tenders (optional) OR
1 lb. cooked chicken pieces
Gravy (from above recipe)
Garlic Breadcrumbs (from above recipe)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Clean and chop the broccoli and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces (you may want to remove some of the skin from the broccoli stems)
Steam the broccoli or broccoli/cauliflower until just about the texture you like (it won't get that much softer in the oven so don't underdo it too much)
Place the steamed veggies and Quorn or chicken pieces in a large ovenproof dish (I use our ceramic oval Emile Henry dish)
Pour over the gravy, freezing any excess
Sprinkle over the garlic breadcrumbs
Bake for 30 minutes and then let sit for 10 minutes before serving (to help the gravy set a bit)

Eggy Bread

2009-01-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

Eggy Bread is the UK version of French toast, except that it's savory rather than sweet. Instead of adding any sugar or vanilla extract, you just add salt and pepper. I quite like it this way and Evan finds that it still tastes nice with fruit spread on it. We had this for dinner last night, as we're all still recovering from stomach flu.

Cook's Illustrated just did a story on French Toast and we thought we might find new techniques to improve upon our rather slapdash method. It turns out that we don't mind the 'egginess' that caused the Cook's writers to eliminate the whites and that the melted butter was good but not required. We also don't bother to stale the bread. The slackers win!

I have found that it is quite tasty to salt and pepper each slice of bread (on the 'up' side) as it cooks, but you can also add the salt and pepper to the egg and milk mixture.

We have used lots of different bread for this, but have settled on a sliced artisan bread from Grand Central bakery (the Como). Pre-sliced bread isn't necessary, but does seem to work the best.

INGREDIENTS
5-9 slices bread (staled or not)
3 eggs
1- 1 1/2 c. milk (any kind)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 TBSP oil
1 TBSP butter

DIRECTIONS

Gently preheat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or so (to ensure even heat distribution over the whole surface, particularly if using a griddle that spans two gas burners)
Beat the eggs and milk in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired or wait and do this by the slice
Put half of the oil and butter in the pan or on the griddle and let it melt, spreading it around. Turn the heat up to medium
Soak the bread slices in the egg/milk mixture and then put in the pan/griddle
Salt and pepper the top side of each slice if you haven't salted the mixture
Cook until golden brown then flip. Cook until golden on the other side
Melt the remaining oil and butter and cook the remaining slices
Serve plain or with fruit spread, syrup, fresh fruit, yogurt, pear or huckleberry sauce or anything else that sounds appealing. Makes a great breakfast-for-dinner treat

Toddler Snacks

2009-01-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

Here's another product review, this time for freeze-dried fruits and veggies. What a wonderful toddler snack! They're lightweight and they don't make a mess. There is no added sugar and children seem to think they're great fun to eat. We have been eating Crunchies brand. The only organic ones they do are sweet peas and strawberries, so that's what we eat. (Strawberries have high pesticide residue, so they're worth buying organic when possible). We got ours in bulk from Amazon. They're not cheap, but they're not too outrageous, either. I like the strawberries in my cereal. The peas taste just like a really good, fresh garden pea except crunchy. So glad I discovered these--I feel much better about them than Veggie Booty and the like.

Clementine Aioli

2009-01-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

This is another recipe, recently rediscovered, from Dana Jacobi's Natural Health Cookbook. I've been working on 'Project Vegetable' with Elspeth, making sure to offer her several different vegetables at a meal so that she's exposed to a wide variety and takes lots of vegetables as a matter of course (as it were). I had bought some cauliflower and thought that, just because I've always preferred my veggies plain, it doesn't mean that Elspeth might not like a sauce now and then. I've heard that many kids really get into dipping so I decided to try it.

I don't tend to have big oranges on hand, but in the winter we almost always have clementines (which I prefer to satsumas), so I took a risk and used that. It worked great! I also reduced the garlic in the recipe, not for Elspeth's benefit, but because Cook's Illustrated recently revealed that garlic will get stronger over time and I wanted to be able to use the sauce over more than one day.

I had thought I was such a French food expert and believed that aioli was garlic mayonnaise. Wrong! I was also puzzled that Jacobi called her recipe 'allioli'. It turns out that traditionally aioli is just garlic and olive oil with no eggs (no wonder I like it) and that allioli is the Catalan version.

At any rate, Elspeth ended up eating the cauliflower dipped or plain and loved the sauce so much that in the end she abandoned dipping and just raised the dish to her mouth and quaffed the lot--on two separate occasions! I guess she knows her good fat when she tastes it.

This sauce is great with cauliflower but I suspect would work well with many steamed veggies.

INGREDIENTS
1-3 cloves garlic, put through a press (the garlic needs to be super fine)
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 c. clementine, tangerine or orange juice
Zest of 1 clementine
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Combine the clementine juice, zest, black pepper and the salt (this is so the salt dissolves--it won't dissolve in the oil so doing this ensures even distribution of salt). Set aside
Whisk together the garlic and olive oil in a small bowl
Slowly drizzle the juice mixture into the oil/garlic and whisk constantly until the mixture is well incorporated and emulsified (the recipe doesn't make sufficient quantity to make a food processor workable, but I made it with great success in the blender)
Serve over steamed vegetables. Keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days but you'll need to warm to room temperature and shake or whisk well before serving again