Thursday, December 24, 2009

chocolate truffles with sea salt



I make no secret of the fact that I'm a huge fan of The Pioneer Woman (and especially her recipes). When we were discussing extra Christmas presents for family, I thought a great idea would be to try PW's Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt recipe.

This really couldn't have been easier to make something pretty sophisticated. I'll warn you that we got a lot more truffle "cores" out of the 16oz of base chocolate, and that didn't match up to the amount of coating we got from the (12oz) bag of milk chocolate chips I chose.

We easily could have used 2 bags of chips, and probably less core chocolate, but I don't want to mess with the core recipe because of the other ingredients involved. Suffice to say, you'll get a lot of it if you go with a teaspoon of chocolate for the core; do be sure to buy an extra bag of the chips for the coating. I melted the chips in the double boiler method, too, instead of microwaving. I don't always trust my microwave :-)

To dust the tops, I bought goooooood sea salt: Fleur de Sel Tresor from a bulk bin at one of our local gourmet food shops....Nice and fluffy, NOT MORTONS. If you can't find any, even kosher salt would be better than regular ol' table salt.

Overall, the hands-on process was longer than 15 minutes (but not obnoxiously so), and SUPER easy.

To package, I bought tiny little "cupcake" papers (one per "cupcake"); we then put 4–6 chocolates in little gift boxes. Tie up with a bow, and voila! a lovely little hostess gift or bonus holiday treat.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

We met the Pioneer Woman!


We met The Pioneer Woman last night after waiting for eeeeeeever. She was super nice, it was SUPER quick, and I think she was super surprised that I'm an adult woman with a "pet" cow *laugh* She asked how long I'd had Maddie, and didn't quite know what to say when I say about a year and a half. Ah well. Very, very nice. I'm a huge fan of her blog, and she's a lot of why I've started cooking again. 

Thanks for coming to Atlanta, Ree! You have quite the fan base here.

Monday, December 7, 2009

do-it-yourself cliff bars




I found this recipe awhile ago, and have been meaning to post it (really I have!). Another allrecipes.com gem, this one is technically called Bird Seed Energy Bars but for us backpackers, it's really just Cliff Bars At Home.

I modified in my making of it, so have copied here with notes:

Ingredients

  • 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats : Not the quick cook kind!
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed: I mixed dark and light because that's what I had
  • 1 cup wheat germ : Use the toasted or raw kind, though I hear toasted tastes better
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1 cup canola oil: I was actually low on oil, so I upped the honey content. You might also try substituting apple sauce for oil to make it lower fat (though proceed at your own risk, I haven't done this yet)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon salt
Goodies to mix in:
  • 1/2 cup flax seeds: I didn't have any handy so I skipped this, but they're really good for you and worth trying
  • 1/2 cup sesame seeds: I didn't have any handy so I skipped this
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds: I didn't have any handy so I skipped this
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips: Oh heck yes
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts: Because I like them and they're good for you
  • 1/2 cup chopped cherry-flavoured Craisins: Trust me on the cherry-flavoured, and take the bars to a whole new level

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x14 inch ovenproof baking dish.
  2. Mix the rolled oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, and flour together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, honey, canola oil, vanilla, and salt until evenly blended., and stir into the oat mixture. Stir in the goodies. Use your hands to mix the ingredients, and press the mixture into the prepared pan.
  3. Bake in preheated oven until the edges are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely in the baking dish before cutting into 2 inch bars.Took me a little longer to bake them since I was going for the golden brown.

We have LOVED these. Cut them into squares, store in the fridge in tupperware, and pull out as needed for hikes, snacks, trips, whatever. Mr. Man loves them so much he got fussy when he thought I was withholding one from him on a recent backpacking trip :-)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Shepherd's Pie





I just made the Simply Recipes version of Shepherd's Pie and it's blowing both of us out of the water. WOW. This is going into regular rotation for its ease of preparation and absolute deliciousness.

I  modified by making it with those Morningstar Crumbles instead of meat. The veggies I added to the mix of meat and onions were chopped carrots, corn, and Le Sueur Early Peas (straight from the can, rinsed, to keep things easy). I also added just a tiny bit of garlic powder to the browning meat, and used kosher salt for my salt.

I put J on mashed potato duty. To make the mashed potatoes, he used the recommended amount of butter, a tiny dash of powdered onion, a tiny dash of garlic powder, and a tiny dash of milk.

Don't skimp on the butter, this stuff is amazing. I always love her recipes anyway, but WOW. Easy, and mind-blowingly delicious. And totally vegetarian if you want it to be. Bookmark her site!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

exciting discovery

I've just discovered this site wherein you can customize a cookbook. Found it, by the way, in a search for enchiladas recipes that utilize bacon. Found that too.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Banana Bread


If ever there was a ringing endorsement of food, it would be the disappearance of my banana bread in the office. Not technically myyyy banana bread, since it's another AllRecipes gem. Still. Time to disappear: one hour flat.

Super easy (made it this morning so I could bring it in warm). Super super easy.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter: I use real, honest to goodness butter. Tastes better.
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar: I had less sugar in the cabinet this morning, so that's what I went with
  • 2 eggs, beaten: I dumped these on the butter/sugar mixture and "beat" them in there.
  • 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas: I go for as rotten and overripe as I possibly can. I am in the habit of freezing overripe bananas for smoothies, so when I don't have enough "fresh" overripe bananas I nuke some of my frozen banana.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and beat that together, then add mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten (over stirring makes it rubbery and that just sucks!). Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes (63 minutes for me), until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
Please note: 
This recipe rocks for its simplicity, and its flexibility. You can add chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or whatever you think might taste good. You can also make it into muffins (more like cupcakes if you go the chocolate chip route ehehe), just adjust the bake time to about 25-30 minutes (for a dozen).

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Pear "Crisp"


I had pears about to go bad, so I quickly grabbed this recipe from Allrecipes to bake them up. I'm having a hard time not eating the entire thing Right. Now.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rolled oats: I used old fashioned (not quick cook)
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped crystallized ginger: I used 1TB
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon: I used slightly less
  • 1/4 cup butter: I melted mine entirely
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped crystallized ginger: I used 2TB
  • 8 cups peeled and sliced pears: I chopped what I had, and added an apple that needed baking, and didn't sweat the small stuff of figuring out if it was 8c exactly.
  • 1 pint vanilla ice cream: I skipped this for calories (and I didn't want to go get ice cream; I know, shocking ;-)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish or 9 inch square baking dish
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1 Tablespoon crystallized ginger, and cinnamon. Stir in the (melted) butter until the mixture is crumbly with pea sized lumps. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir together the white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and 2 Tablespoons of crystallized ginger. Add the sliced pears/apple, and toss to blend. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Spread with the oat topping.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, then switch that to broil/high for 3 minutes, until pears are soft and topping is golden brown. Serve, lick bowl clean.

Working Lunch


What to do when you have an abundance of potatoes and you're busy trying to make deadlines on various and sundry over the weekend? Amazing baked potatoes, of course.

  1. Take baking (or otherwise) potatoes, clean and scrub. Stab a few times with your fork so you don't get any 'sploded potatoes.
  2. Douse with olive oil (nice and wet), generously coat with lemon pepper (Lawry's and Trader Joe's have a great one with salt, garlic, onion, lemon, and pepper).
  3. Bake in oven at 400F for about an hour (until they're pretty squishy with the fork and the skin seems kinda crusty). Flip them over in the middle of baking if you're concerned about evenness, and add extra time if you have a monster potato.
  4. Tear up in a bowl, douse with butter, sour cream, and any leftover pieces of bacon/smart bacon (fake'n) from breakfast. Douse with a very generous helping of salsa (I used Muir Glen cilantro salsa).
  5. Groan with delight.

Easy, super yum, lets you attend to other stuff with very minimal involvement. Way, way better than microwave.

Monday, November 9, 2009

EBChiladas

Ok, Jason loved these so much he calls them EBChiladas now. I'll take it ;-) Super easy, and can be meaty or vegetarian. Sorry, no picture. It's just not the prettiest. But things that taste awesome often aren't. It's not really low-fat, but it's not designed to be. Use your brain to make modifications to cut fat/calories. And hey, go for a smaller serving size.

I used the Easy Chicken Enchiladas recipe from Allrecipes (my usual M.O.) with some modifications (my other usual M.O.):

Core Ingredients

  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese or American Neufchâtel cheese: lower fat! but don't go fat free! doesn't melt right! And don't do the French version of Neufchâtel...very different product
  • 1 cup salsa: think about what's going to taste best "flavour wise" since there are so many salsa choices these days; I used Pace "3 Peppers" salsa found on the clearance rack at Target; a chipotle salsa would be amazing with this.
  • 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast meat or tofu: I used Adobo, dried parsley, chili powder, and olive oil to cook it on the stove top.
  • 1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans, drained: I used half red beans and half black beans
  • 6 (6 inch) corn tortillas: corn tortillas have lower calories; I used more like 8-10. DO NOT buy the TraderJoe's corn tortillas. Big disaster. Get the "cheap Mexican" ones at the grocery store.
  • 2 cups shredded "Mexican blend" cheese (Monterey jack, cheddar, asadero, & quesadilla cheeses)

Topping


  • One small can black olives, sliced
  • One small can sliced green chiles (or slice them yourself)
  • One more cup of salsa; I used Muir Glen organic cilantro salsa for this part
  • Shredded lettuce, sour cream

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream cheese and 1 cup salsa. Cook, stirring until melted and well blended. Stir in chicken/tofu and beans. Fill tortillas with the mixture, roll and place into the prepared baking dish. Spread cilantro salsa then cheese over top. Top with black olives and green chiles. Cover with aluminum foil.
  3. Bake for 30 minutes, or until heated through. Garnish with your favorite toppings such as lettuce and tomatoes, or sour cream. 
  4. Prepare to moan. No, seriously. 

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Peasant Bread, or A Slacker's Attempt at French Bread



This is my second attempt to make "French" bread in the oven, and while not overwhelming it's pretty passable and especially easy. Bonus points for having very few (simple) ingredients, and for being vegan.

I love my bread machine for the fact that it will knead/rise dough for me while I do more important things like Facebook and feeding my cats catnip. If you don't have a bread machine, there are inevitably reviews giving you instruction for doing it all by hand.

I used the Peasant Bread recipe over at AllRecipes then modified:

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

  1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle. 
  2. When dough cycle is close to completion, start the oven on 350 preheat. When dough cycle is complete, throw onto a floured surface to mold into a reasonable "peasant bread"-shaped ball. Slice the top a couple of times with a sharp knife. (Honestly I don't know why, but there has to be a reason you always see that.)
  3. Bake at 350 on a *pizza stone* (or bread stone) that's been lightly dusted with cornmeal. Apparently, the baking stone makes a huge difference.
  4. At the same time, you want a pan of hot water below the stone to generate steam in the baking process. I put one of my Le Creuset pieces in there and poured boiling water from my kettle into it. 
  5. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, but eyeball it until the crust looks about right (golden brown).

    I've been reading that they key to French Bread is a steam injection oven, which I obviously don't have and am assuming you don't either. So, that pan of water makes a difference. I've made the peasant bread recipe before in the bread machine and this turned out totally differently, and I'd say better. Maybe I'm partial to round bread.

    Another option is to fill a fine mister/spray bottle with water and spray it every 15 minutes. I don't have an open spray bottle at the moment, but maybe I'll try that next time.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Pumpkin Gingerbread



I will admit, I wanted very much to make Pumpkin Ginger cupcakes, but the recipe called for butterscotch instant pudding and J was unable to find anything but sugar free. Boo aspartame!

So, Plan B. WOW. Slight modifications to the recipe per some reviews, so I've shown it here with commentary. The original recipe is here of course.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups sugar: I used 1 1/2 cups regular sugar, and 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil: I used 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 4 eggs
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger: I use a more liquid version that looks like this and NOT the powdered variety. I think this makes a huge difference!
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves: I left this out b/c I forgot. It did not suffer. I'll do it next time :-)
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
  2. In a large mixing, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin and ginger.
  3. In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, baking powder, cloves, allspice and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans.
  4. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

applesauce oatmeal muffins


I'll admit I didn't take my own photo before we'd devoured all of these (so you know the recipe is good!). Another AllRecipes gem, these applesauce oatmeal muffins are to die for.

I didn't have any quick-cook oats in the house, so I went for the packets of instant oatmeal that we take on our backpacking trips (low-sugar variety) and upped the cinnamon for my own taste. I was liberal with the topping, making sure to use every last bit.

J was nomming happily and gave this one two thumbs up. I especially like that it's low-fat (and surprisingly low-sugar).

Monday, October 26, 2009

Fresh, Raw, Homemade Almond Milk

My friend Nadia directed me to this set of instructions for How to Milk and Almond. Can't wait to try it!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Apple & Kraut Pork Chops

My dear friend Rhonda made pork chops for dinner. Sounds pretty darned delicious, so check it out!

If you're doubtful about the sauerkraut part of this equation, go here to see that sauerkraut is quite wonderful for you. It bolsters the immune system much like kefir and yoghurt do.

Of special note from that site:  
Flu Fighter
With the spread of Avian Flu spreading across the globe, one enterprising Korean scientist, Kang Sa-Ouk of Seoul National University, took 13 chickens infected with avian flu virus and a couple of other diseases, fed them Kim chi extract and found that 11 of the birds recovered. Experts think the vital bacteria are created during the fermenting process and this gives the dish its health-boosting qualities.


Pile it on!

what's in your smoothie?



I usually like to make smoothies in the morning when I have time, especially when I'm feeling the need for a boost. This morning's smoothie contains some pretty awesome stuff:

Strawberries: Heart protective, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, great source of Vitamin C
Mango: one of the best sources of betacarotene, quercetin and astragalin, another great source of vitamin C, and vitamin A
Pineapple: Manganese, Vitamin C and Thiamin (again with the anti-cancer)
Peaches: Tons of Vitamin A, which is good for your eyes!
Ginger: Digestive aid which also helps to clear out mucus
Wheat Germ: Vitamin E, Folic Acid, Fiber, Omega-3, Vitamin B, iron, calcium, zinc
Bee Pollen: vitamins, minerals, proteins and amino acids, enzymes and coenzymes, as well as antibiotic, antihistamine, and antioxidant properties; great source of energy
Local Honey: builds immunity against local pollen allergies, and tastes good :-)
Apple Juice: Good for your heart, good for the fight against bad cholesterol

Friday, October 23, 2009

Budgeting and Menus

One of the benefits of the All Recipes site, like many other websites these days, is the community they've built around the recipes and food in general. I rarely fail to check reviews before starting on a new recipe, as often other readers have made beneficial corrections or suggestions for improvement. Sometimes folks go overboard and basically rewrite the recipe (annoying) while others correct things like the amount of water needed for a bread machine recipe (totally necessary).

They also link to blogs, and I clicked on this particular entry because I am always looking for ways to save money without eating total crap. I also love that it's a menu plan, laid out for grabbing by busy folks (like me).

It looks tasty and well thought out, so I do believe I'll be copying some of it. Convert to vegetarian items where you see fit/necessary.

Albert Heijn's Avocado Raspberry Walnut Salad



Albert Heijn is the standard grocery store in the Netherlands, much like Publix in the South, only shinier and more visually tantalizing (for me). I love Dutch design anyway, but Dutch design combined with Food puts me in ecstasy. Or at least like a kid in a candy shop :-)

I found this recipe on their website awhile back, and have translated to the best of my minimal Nederlands knowledge. I welcome corrections, though obviously you can wing a lot of it and still come out tasty.

Avocado-Raspberry Walnut Salad

Ingredients
* 12 walnuts broken up
* 1 dash/sprinkle sugar
* 125 g raspberries (fresh, or thawed from frozen)
* 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
* 1 dash white wine vinegar
* 4 dashes walnut oil
* 2 chunks of lettuce (enough for your preference)
* 2 ripe avocados
* 2 dashes lime juice
* a few sprigs of mint, shredded

Caramelize the rapsberries with the sugar on low heat. Take two raspberries, crush and add the mustard, vinegar and oil... until it tastes right/good. Salt/pepper to the dressing for taste.

Tear up the lettuce in large pieces, cut up the avocado and sprinkle with the lime juice. Sprinkle dressing and ingredients.

Serves 4.

Note: Avocado and Raspberries
Avocados are amazing and tasty. Check out the World's Healthiest Foods website for details on avocados and raspberries. They pack nutritional punch that hits a gamut of health concerns.

southern biscuits from scratch

I make no secret of the fact that I am a huge fan of AllRecipes.com and found this particular goodie there as well. They turned out well, though nothing will ever be as good as Bojangles :-)

JP's Big Daddy Biscuits

INGREDIENTS
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1/3 cup shortening*
* 1 cup milk (see note in direx)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl---only add as much milk as you need, you may not always need the whole cup!
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

* Whole Foods has a *great* non-hydrogenated, organic shortening option in their baking section. Don't go Crisco!

soup for the sickies

I found this recipe in the Washington Post, and have tried to keep it fresh in my mind as well as share with others. This is the perfect "sickie" medicine, bolstering your immune system with a flavourful punch.

Daphne Miller's Mushroom Ginger Soup for Health
1 ¼ cup shiitake, white button, maitake, cremini, or oyster mushrooms cut in ¼ inch slices
1/2 inch cube of fresh ginger (you can add a bit more if you really love ginger)
2 cups cold water
1 tablespoon white or red miso paste
1 tsp Mirin, sake or rice vinegar
1 tbsp finely chopped scallion

Put mushrooms, ginger and water in a pot with a lid and bring to a boil, immediately turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and take out ginger. Put ¼ up of broth in a bowl and stir in miso paste and Mirin.

Stir this mixture into the pot. Serve topped with scallions.

Serving size: 1 dose


Note: Ginger
Ginger is *great* for clearing out mucus and sinuses. It naturally warms the body, provides a quick energy boost, and is awesome for your digestive tract (soothing for both upset stomach and nausea). I've taken to adding it to my morning smoothies for extra goodness.

Note: Mushrooms
Mushrooms are fantastic for your immune system. See this page for more info. I had a farmer tell me he makes a dose of them when he feels illness coming on; he pours boiling water over dried mushrooms (however much he needs for what he's cooking) and lets it sit for 30 minutes. The juice from that goes into a shot glass and voila, you've got an immune boosting shot. We do this every time we reconstitute mushrooms now.