Foods and Yummies

I have such a love-hate relationship with food. I’ve been vegetarian for 19 years (almost 20), vegan for 6 of those. I never have any intention of eating meat ever again in my life, though I have no issue cooking it for the meat-eaters in my life.

Being vegetarian for so long I go through phases of foods that I like. I eat things for months and months at a time until I’m sick of them. Then stop. I’ve been going through a major salad phase lately. I crave green, healthy foods but Salad and I have often been at odds. When you’ve been vegetarian for as long as I have been salad quickly, quickly loses it’s appeal. It’s winning favor again apparently. My favorite?

Mixed spring greens/spinach

Fresh cut strawberries

Cucumber

Baby portabella mushrooms

Walnuts

Touch of Gorgonzola

Bit of balsamic dressing (I hate salads drenched in dressing. I just want a hint of flavor.)

If I’m feeling adventurous I’ll toss in some dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, or orange bell pepper. I know, I know, getting crazy there =)

But that’s for me. What I have been making for everyone else has been off the charts ridiculous lately.

Last Memorial Day weekend I had a small gathering and made:

Caramelized Dijon & Honey Chicken

Deviled Eggs (my own recipe – absolutely delightful)

Caprese Skewers (Cherry tomatoes, basil, fresh Mozz)

Grilled Cheese Toasties gourmet style (Gruyere/Parmesan/sautéed Onion/Roasted Garlic on slices of French bread)

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

For the wedding I made:

Fig and Walnut Tapenade with Goat cheese - essentially figs soaked and reduced in Port wine added to my favorite kalamata olive tapenade base, with goat cheese spread on French bread topped with a hint of walnut. This is so yummy.

Then yesterday was Doc’s birthday so his girlfriend and I brainstormed a huge birthday dinner to surprise him with. I cooked:

Chicken in a Spicy Sausage Sauce

Spicy Mac-n-Cheese (Baked, yet another gourmet style mac-n-cheese. I can’t do anything “normal”.)

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Cookies-n-Cream Frosting

Sangria

I’ve just been cooking like a mad woman. But mad in a good way. I love to feed people. It can be a little stressful doing so much all by myself but I’m a little OCD when it comes to prep work which helps make things run more smoothly. It gives me an immense amount of satisfaction to make food that the people I care for enjoy.

I obsess about finding recipes, but the recipe card/page/whatever is just the idea. I use pre-done recipes as inspiration but 94% of the time I don’t bother sticking to them at all. This is especially true when it comes to meat dishes. I don’t eat meat so I don’t have a knowledge base of experience to pull from. It helps me to have something I can look at to guide my thought process. However I do have an extensive palate when it comes to seasonings and ingredient incorporation so I can always tell when things will work. I look up recipe inspiration, and then alter, cook, and create til my heart’s content.  Food is so fun.

Edible art.

If you’re interested in any of these recipes let me know and I’ll post the source and how I altered them.

Maybe I should open a bakery

So I’ve been baking and cooking like a mad woman lately. I love this. In the past week I’ve made:

Cranberry-Orange Scones

Caramelized Shallot Mashed Potatoes

Guinness Beef Stew

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (seriously to die for)

Crumpets ß--- Major pain in the ass but quite yummy

and a Dutch Crumble Apple Pie

This weekend I’ll be making:

Scones & Crumpets again

Fairy cakes (really just mini vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting)

Lemon Tart with Raspberry Sauce

and finally a Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Port Wine glaze

Guess how much of this is for me? Yep, pretty much none of it, but my friends appreciate it. I know the guys at work certainly do. I’m afraid I may be spoiling them a bit. I can’t help it though. It’s really nice for me to have people to do things for. It makes me feel useful and wanted which is something that I don’t usually feel.

I thought I’d share some recipes over the next few days. These are probably the best scones I’ve ever had if I do say so myself. I know, I know, I’m super modest. I may have a lot of self-doubt, but not when it comes to my baking. Give them a try, you won’t be disappointed.

Cranberry-Orange Scones

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chilled buttermilk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl.

Mix in orange peel.

Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal ( just threw all this stuff in the food processor which is much easier).

Mix in dried cranberries.

Gradually add buttermilk, tossing with fork until moist clumps form.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly to bind dough, about 4 turns. Form dough into 1-inch-thick round. Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake until tops of scones are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let stand on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

Happy Mabon!

I was a bad witch this weekend. I didn’t do a full ritual for the Equinox but that’s ok. I feasted and baked and spent time with those closest to me. And as it’s a holiday of harvest and plenty I feel this was quite an alright way to spend it.

I did feel the need to make a seasonal offering in celebration though so this year I made apple bread. I brought all my ingredients over to Friends house and made a delightful apple bread. Autumn ingredients shared with  close friends is a good ritual in my book. Friends wife was tickled that I included them in my celebration. Friend responded with, well we’re practically family after all. I had mixed feelings about this but for all intents and purposes the sentiment was a warm one.

This recipe made two loafs. It was surprisingly balanced. I was afraid it would be uber sweet, but it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it definitely had sweetness to it, but it wasn’t a smash in your face sweetness. I also used granny smith apples so there was a really nice balance.  Quite delightful. I love autumn. I love apples. I love baking with apples.

Apple Bread

Prep Time: 35 mins

Total Time: 1 hrs 35 mins

Yield: 2 loafs

Ingredients

-       3 cups flour

-       1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

-       1 teaspoon baking soda

-       1 teaspoon salt

-       1/4 teaspoon baking powder

-       3 eggs

-       2 cups sugar

-       1 cup oil

-       1 tablespoon vanilla

-       2 cups diced apples ( , without skins)

-       1/2 cup chopped walnuts

-       1 teaspoon flour

Directions

-       Mix flour, cinnamon, soda, salt and baking powder together.

-       Beat eggs and add sugar and oil.

-       Add vanilla and dry ingredients.

-       Stir in apples.

-       Mix walnuts in a tsp of flour and add to batter.

-       Pour into 2 greased loaf pans.

-       Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

French Apple Tart

Mmmmm it’s apple season again! Seriously I love fall. I love autumn weather, autumn holidays, autumn scents, autumn foods. And nothing is more fall-like than apples =) Last Sunday I made a big dinner for me, Roommate and her boyfriend. I made Braised Morroccan Chicken with Apricots, Turkish Almond Soup, and a French Apple Tart. All of which came out fantastically. I was stoked about the tart though. I’ve never made it before and it was simply and utterly delightful. Roommate is kind of a finicky eater, especially with desserts, and she had 3rds. And leftovers. If you like apple pie but want something a little easier to make, and a little lighter, this is the perfect compromise.

French Apple Tart

Ingredients

For the pastry:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 cup ice water

For the apples:

4 Granny Smith apples

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small diced

1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam

2 tablespoons Calvados, rum, or water

Cinnamon

Directions

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Roll the dough slightly larger than 10 by 14-inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.

Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baler. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. (I tend not to use the apple ends in order to make the arrangement beautiful.) Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine!

When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture.

Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Bacon......palooza!

Wow, what a fun party. I was absolutely outside of myself the entire time but it was a good affair for sure.  Friends wife made a comment yesterday that she realized I was drinking to cope with the crowd. This was true. Also just to cope with myself and my moods. I played it off well though. I slipped into a party persona and maintained a happy dancing demeanor. There were points I even truly enjoyed myself. So what made Bacon palooza, bacony? Well, the bacon of course. The point was for people to bring various experimental dishes in bacon to be judged on taste, creativity, and presentation.

I made: Sizzling Bacon Wrapped Apricots with a Cranberry Glaze Reduction and Bacon Bourbon Brownies.

I think I used too much bourbon in the brownies and they could have done with more sugar. However, the Sizzling Bacon Wrapped Apricots actually won me first prize in the bacon contest!! The irony of a strict vegetarian winning the Baron of Bacon trophy was not lost on anyone. The recipe was pretty simple too.

Sizzling Bacon-Wrapped Apricots with Cranberry Glaze

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with
• 1 1/2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 12 slices maple-cured bacon, halved crosswise
• 24 dried apricots
• 1 1/2 cups Ocean Spray® 100% Juice Cranberry Juice Blend

Directions

1.      Boil cranberry juice blend in medium saucepan over high heat until reduced to 1 cup. Whisk in cornstarch, brown sugar, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil until thickened. Cool to room temperature. Reserve 1/2 cup of the glaze.

2.      Meanwhile, line rimmed baking sheet with foil; set wire rack over foil and spray with cooking spray. Wrap bacon halves around apricots and secure with wooden pick. Brush with glaze and place on wire rack.

3.      Broil 3 to 7 minutes, or until bacon in browned, turning once. Serve warm with reserved glaze.

I couldn’t turn mine because of the damned toothpicks so I ended up turning the oven on high and baking them for 10 minutes instead. I also just drizzled the glaze over the bacon/apricots when I was ready to serve them so they weren’t overpowered.

Nice. Easy. Award winning? Apparently!

I also made my Honey and Nuts Snow White yesterday. It’s a very Traditional Turkish dish that I’m working on for our Mediterranean dinner party. And man did I get it right this time! It’s basically a blancmange with oatmeal bottom crush and sautéed apples/walnuts and honey on top. It’s not the simplest of recipes but I’m stoked about it.

Honey and Nuts Snow White

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

3 cups milk

2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp starch
3/4 tsp vanilla
For the crust:
1 cup oatmeal

3 Tbsp butter

Honey (to taste)
For the top:
2 tbsp honey
½ cup walnuts, coarsely crushed
1 apple
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Crust: Mix oatmeal, melted butter and honey together and press onto the bottom of your baking vessel. I used a 9” pie plate. Bake at 350 degF until golden brown: approx 10-15 minutes.

To prepare the filling, take milk, sugar, starch and flour into a pot. Cook over medium heat while whisking. Once it is thickened turn off heat. Stir in vanilla. Set aside.

Meanwhile, peel the apple and chop into small cubes. Cook them in a saucepan with sugar until their color changes to pinkish.

Pour the filling over the crust and let it cool for a while. Place the cooked apples all over and drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with walnuts and cinnamon. Serve cold.

Not too sweet, perfectly creamy, delicious. I’m so excited about this.

I also got to work on my light sabers a little bit yesterday! Friend and I cut down the hilts to the size I intend to wield and drilled out the attachment holes. Once that was done we busted out the liquid epoxy and attached the labradorite spheres I’m using as pommels and made the initial attachment. I’ve decided to depart from my previous use of amethyst inlaid crystal in favor of a dichroic glass accented display. The stones I have are beautiful. I hope it all turns out =) I have to say though, I have not been a fan of working with the sculpting epoxy I have. Granted I’ve been working with the lamest tools ever; namely a dull pencil, which I imagine is also contributing to my frustration. I’m definitely going to try to get these things to achieve the twisted organic look that I want. If not, I do have a backup plan, but I want to push my ideas forward to the next level. Not just settle for what I know I can do.  

Blueberry Muffins

Wednesday mornings are the big breakfast mornings for the guys out in the shop and my team of engineers. We all gather out in the small test lab and one of the guys makes epic breakfast sandwiches, someone usually brings fruit, etc. Well everyone is going on vacation this week because it’s a short week at work (yesterday and today we were given off for holiday), so I’m making blueberry muffins to bring in for the guys at work. I have to say, they muffins I made are pretty epic. Hope they like them. Here’s the recipe if you are so inclined to try them. I used fresh blueberries and rolled them in flour first before folding them into the batter. Do not over beat the batter at any point. Rolling them in flour first allows them to remain ‘floating’ in the batter so they don’t all sink to the bottom.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries or 2 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

For Topping

1 tablespoon granulated sugar, mixed with

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

Heat oven to 375°.

Grease 18 regular-size muffin cups (or 12 large size muffins).

In bowl, mix butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.

Beat in vanilla, baking powder and salt.

With spoon, fold in half of flour then half of milk into batter; repeat.

Fold in blueberries.

Spoon into muffin cups and sprinkle topping onto each muffin.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and springy to touch. (I did 25 minutes).

Test Kitchen: Greek Edition

Experiments in the Test Kitchen! It is absolutely my favorite laboratory environment =)  This weekend I hung out with Friend and his wife and made a 4 course Greek dinner. We’re doing a huge dinner party in October – Mediterranean cuisine. There will be four chefs; Friend, the wife, the wife’s brother-in-law, and myself. Each of us will prepare 4 dishes from countries of the Mediterranean. I’ve been systematically going through the countries that I’m interested in cooking from and testing out recipes on them. This week was Greece!

I made:

-- Spanakopita (Greek spinach pie)

-- Greek meatballs in red sauce

--Chickpea balls

--Date and Walnut Phyllo Rolls in Greek yogurt and Honey

I had a minor timing issue with the Spanakopita but overall everything came out deliciously. I’m taking their word about the meatballs since I’m strict vegetarian. I stuck close to the recipes for everything except the Spanakopita. That recipe is entirely my own.

I also picked up some random cheeses as well:

-- French yogurt cheese with sundried tomato (France) – interesting, a touch bitter but nicely balanced and very smooth.

--Roomkas Gouda (Netherlands)– nice and creamy with an almost cheddar taste

--Caciocavallo (Puglia/Italy) – hard cheese, akin to parmesan but not quite as intense

--Arina (Aged Goat Gouda of Holland) – I used this in the Spanakopita along with Feta and Ricotta. Then we just ate the rest of it. Soo, soo delicious. I really flavorful take on gouda.  

I love being in the kitchen. Cue barefoot jokes.  For the record, I wear heels.

Muffins and Cupcakes and... That's all I got. Oh my!

As mentioned yesterday I made Strawberry-Banana muffins for the Solstice. Last night I decided to make Pumpkin Pie cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Friday’s are traditionally movie nights for me and some friends and I often make snacks of some kind. I also have a tendency to obsess over finding new and delectable recipes. I saw these cupcakes, and realizing that they are WAY out of season, I just had to make them.  So I did. Let me tell you. They are amazing, and I’m not really a pumpkin pie fan.  Here’s some recipes in case anyone feels like trying the things I try  =)

Strawberry Banana Muffins Recipe:

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1 cup (240 ml) fresh strawberries (cut into bite sized pieces)

2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (160 grams) light brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon (4 grams) ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon (2.5 grams) salt

 

On to the Pumpkin Pie cupcakes!

**This recipe was originally for 8 mini cupcakes. Who the hell only makes 8 mini cupcakes? I quadrupled the recipe which is generally a big NO! in baking. In baking you can double, or halve, a recipe but because baking really is a chemical reaction it’s important to not screw with your chemistry too much. However, to me it looked like someone had quartered the recipe to begin with so I figured it would probably be safe. Also, I changed the frosting to a better version. Here’s my updated Recipe for:

2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½  teaspoon ground ginger
½  teaspoon nutmeg
½  teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons butter, softened
2 egg white + 1 whole egg
1- 15oz. can pumpkin puree
8 tablespoons skim milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
muffin liners

Frosting:

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 oz. teaspoon trans-fat-free margarine
3 c. confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk

½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla

PREPARATION:

Heat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt until combined. Set aside. Mash granulated sugar and butter in another bowl until combined. Stir in egg white, then pumpkin, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Add dry ingredients; stir until just combined. Pour batter into lined mini muffin cups to three quarters full. Bake until cupcakes spring back to the touch, 10 to 15 minutes. Beat cream cheese, margarine and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl with a hand mixer until smooth. Add yogurt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; beat until combined. When cupcakes cool, frost.

Eat. Savor. Enjoy.

Yum.

Strawberry Banana Muffins: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners or lightly butter or spray the muffin cups with a vegetable spray.

In a small saucepan melt the butter. **Or melt it in the microwave** Let cool to room temperature.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.   

In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. (This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking.) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result. 

Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Can be stored for a few days at room temperature.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins. Preparation time: 20 minutes.