Brussels Sprout Salad Splendor

For most people look forward to Fridays because it's the end of the work week.  I keep a pretty unconventional work schedule, so that isn't always the case.  But I still look forward to Fridays because I get to wake up and read the Cook's Illustrated e-Newsletter.  Each week it highlights 3 or 4 recipes from the archives, many of which I probably would never think of or search for if they didn't show up in my inbox each Friday morning.  I don't always want to cook each and every one of them, but there's usually at least one that strikes my fancy.  Last month this awesome Brussels sprout salad recipe was in the newsletter, and it immediately made the leap to my "Things from Cook's Illustrated to Make" list.  (Yes, there is such a list in my life.)

Baked Winter Fruit

I've been on a baked fruit kick lately after rediscovering a recipe I'd clipped a while back.  (Remember that actually using all the recipes that I clip project that I started at the beginning of this year? It's still going....sort of.)

A couple weeks ago I was looking for a dessert to bring to some friends who were having me over for dinner.  I was keen to find something light, since I feel like the bounty of the season is already catching up with me (specifically my hips).  I decided upon a simple recipe for baked winter fruit from the Boston Globe.  It's just a simple combination of apples, pears (you don't even need to peel them!), prunes, raisins, and dried cranberries, with a touch of orange juice, cinnamon, and brown sugar.  You can also add slivered almonds or walnut pieces, if you wish.  Mix, cover, and bake--that's all there is to it!  

Frangipane Tart With Seasonal Fruit

  
I've had a short but intense love affair with frangipane, otherwise known as almond pastry cream.  I can't remember the first time I had it--either at my first bakery job, where we made Cherry Frangipane Galettes, or perhaps it was on vacation with my family a few months prior to starting that job.  Either way, it was about two years ago, and I've been hooked ever since.  With almond paste at its base, it is similar in flavor to almond macaroons, (which happen to be my favorite cookies), but with a denser, richer texture.  My favorite uses for frangipane are in tarts and galettes (rustic tarts), embellished with seasonal fruits of choice.  I've made this tart several times in the winter with ginger poached pears, but for the summer, I love a combination of stone fruits and berries.  A few weeks ago a dinner with friends gave me the opportunity to make this favorite dessert again.  

I am a fan of all things Martha [Stewart], and her recipe has been my go-to since I discovered this delicious dessert.  A basic pate sucree crust can be prepared up to a day ahead of time.  The crust is pre-baked in a tart pan; the frangipane can be prepared while the tart shell cools.  I've streamlined her fussy crust baking method just a bit--I think the results are probably comparable.  You definitely need to start early in the day to allow sufficient time for chilling and cooling at the various stages, but it's not too hard to execute, and certainly worth the effort....At least that's what I gathered from the second helpings accepted all around! 

Boston Is In Lockdown. Carrot Cake, Anyone?

So Boston/Cambridge/Watertown/Surrounding areas are on lockdown.  I'm sure you know that.  

I was woken up shortly after 6am this morning with simultaneous texts from my roommate, who was stuck at Logan Airport, and from the Cambridge Police.  The police text said:

"This is the city of Cambridge. Do [sic] to the police investigation in Water Town [sic] and the surrounding area, MBTA."  

TOTALLY unhelpful, but by then I was wide awake, so I turned on my computer to learn more.  Good lord, things are CRAZY in this city right now.  From my kitchen window I saw MBTA buses full of police being transported while I was eating breakfast.  Otherwise there's been very little vehicular traffic and few people out along the river, which is usually packed with walkers, runners, and bikers.  With the exception of occasional sirens, my neighborhood is very quiet, much like the whole city.  After what seemed like a lot of activity this morning, mostly from various media outlets catching up on the night's activity, there's been little fresh news since late morning.  It's kind of crazy to think that a city can literally shut down, and people more or less respect the command to stay inside, but so far it's working.

One friend wrote on Facebook that it feels like "a scary, weird snow day in spring."  Which is true.  Can't go outside, no where to go, and nothing to do.  So clearly, that called for snow day amusement tactics, namely baking.  

Wednesday Morning Pecan-Toffee Oatmeal Cookies

So Harvard is maybe moving me three times this year.  Once in June, then again in July, for sure.  And then maybe once in November.  Yipeeeeee.... 

(For the record, I hate moving.  Well, packing/unpacking.  Luckily Harvard is doing all the actual heavy lifting.)

So what is a baker with an overly full pantry to do in advance of all these moves?  Start depleting the pantry!  Clearly Wednesday morning cookies were in order. 

These cookies in particular happened because the recipe is a recent addition to the folder (and therefore in need of testing, see Recipe Folder Project, January 2013).  Also, as luck would have it, I had almost exactly the right amounts of oats, pecans, and Heath Bars (don't ask).  So really, Fate was telling me to give them a whirl. 

Oats, both ground and whole, make up half the base, giving these cookies a hearty crunch.  Lots of butter and a mix of white and brown sugars makes these cookies crisp on the outside but chewy in the center.  A generous amount of Heath Bar pieces amplify the brown sugar's deep toffee flavor.  Toasty pecans round out the flavor profile and make everything delicious, no?  These aren't fancy or beautiful cookies by any means, but are a great picnic treat or a deeply satisfying afternoon pick-me-up.

Orange Almond EVOO Heaven

  

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, every food blogger/writer/celebrity/enthusiast (and their mothers) were putting out their "Top 10 Cookbooks of the Year."  Over and over these lists mentioned NYTimes columnist Melissa Clark's new book Cook This Now:120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make.  If you're not familiar with Clark, she writes "In the Kitchen With a Good Appetite" (and has another book by the same name), which is, in my opinion, the highlight of the NY Times's Wednesday Dining Section.  After the holidays I finally requested the book from my favorite place, the Cambridge Public Library.  Since picking it up I have to say I'm totally in love with it, if only for the following recipe, an Orange-Almond-Olive Oil Cake that is just out of this world.  I also want to make about 90% of the other recipes, too, but in the last 2 weeks I've made this cake 3 times.  Yes, it's that good.  (And no, I haven't eaten them all myself--I gave 2 away.)  But seriously, this cake: so good!  It has this incredibly light texture, while still being very moist.  Clark calls it "intensely almond-y" but I really pick out the orange flavor--guess they're both there in perfect harmony.  The cake also contains buckwheat flour, which I had never used before, despite owning a bag (that, admittedly, I pilfered from my mother's cupboard).  The nuttiness of the buckwheat flour offers another interesting layer of flavor, so I'd recommend getting a bag, even if it's just for this cake.  You'll probably want to make it so many times that it'll be gone in no time!  However, if you're so desperate the try this before making a trip to the grocery store, I'm sure that replacing it with all-purpose would also produce a very good cake. 

Simple, rustic, but oh-so-tasty!

Cranberry Almond Granola

I love Cheerios.  Always have, always will.  But on occasion I need to eat something else for breakfast. (I have been devoted to them for the past 25 years, so I think it's okay to cheat on them once in a while).  When the mood strikes, and I don't have time for anything elaborate, yogurt and granola is one of my favorite combinations.  I usually only have it on the rare occasion that I have some store-bought granola around, which happens, you know, every few years.  Which really isn't enough.  

Last Friday it occurred to me that making granola probably isn't terribly hard.  A quick foodnetwork.com search turned up a simple and relatively healthy cranberry granola from Giada De Laurentiis.  I streamlined the recipe by replacing the mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds with all sunflower seeds (since I already had some, and I don't really care for pumpkin seeds as much--too tough!).  However, if you have both then I'm sure you can do a 50/50 mix, or use just pumpkin seeds if you really like them.   I also upped the amounts of oats and nuts, because I felt like there was too much liquid and it needed more stuff to soak it up.  The only "unusual" ingredient in this recipe is unsweetened cranberry juice, which I didn't realize was a marketed product, but I found it easily in the "natural foods/healthy" section of my local Shaw's.  There are a number of brands, some quite expensive, but the Shaw's/Wild Harvest brand was reasonably priced, and the bottle isn't too big, which is good, because there's not a lot to do with excess unsweetened cranberry juice (except make lots and lots of granola!).  This recipe comes together quickly, is mostly hands-off, and the result is a sweet and tart, slightly chewy granola that I liked so much I made a second batch a few days later. 

Cranberry Almond Granola (Adapted from Giadi De Laurentiis, www.foodnetwork.com) 

Makes about 6 cups

* A generous 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, preferably raw, unsalted

* Nonstick cooking spray

* 1/3 cup maple syrup (I like the deep flavor of grade B, but anything you have on hand will be great, as long as it's REAL--no Aunt Jemima, please!)

* 2/3 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark is fine)

* 1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice

* 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

* 2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

* A heaping 1/2 cup almonds, slivered or sliced work well.  

* 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (Kosher salt is fine too, if you don't have sea salt)

* 1 cup dried cranberries

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the sunflower seeds on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly toasted and fragrant.  Let them cool.  Reduce the oven temp to 325 degrees F.

In the mean time, combine the maple syrup, cranberry juice, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan.  Cook, over medium heat, stirring a few times, just until the sugar had dissolved.  Set aside to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, toss together the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, and salt.  Pour the cranberry syrup mixture over the oat mixture, and stir with a spoon or spatula until everything is evenly distributed. 

Spray your cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray, and spread the oat and nut mixture over it in an even layer.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and add the cranberries, and use a spatula to stir the mix around, fluff it, and incorporate the cranberries.  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, until the mixture starts to brown.  Cool the granola completely, and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Enjoy on yogurt with honey or rhubarb compote

Everything and the Kitchen Sink Cookies

  

I just realized the other week that this blog is nearly two years old, and I still haven't told you about one of my favorite cookies ever.  Oops.  Sorry about that.  No, really, I am.

They come from Dorie Greenspan (adorable and so talented!), and can be found in her book Baking: From My Home to Yours.  I don't have the book, but at some point the recipe was published in a cooking magazine, which is where I discovered it.  (Judging from the font I'm going to say it was Bon Appetit, but I managed to trim away any real identifying details).  Dorie dubs these cookies, which are absolutely packed with oats, nuts, fruit, and chocolate, Chockablock cookies.  The type of nuts & fruit you use is entirely up to you, depending on what you have kicking around the pantry.  This time around I used dried cherries and apricots, pecans, and lots of chocolate, but I've tried lots of combos, all tasty and delicious.  My only minor change to the recipe is nixing the dried coconut (hate it!) and upping the oats and other add-ins to equal an extra half cup of stuff.  The cookie purists in your life might find these babies a little overwhelming, but if you like a cookie with a lot of flavor and texture, they are definitely worth a try.

Chockablock Cookies (From Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

About 30 cookies

* 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

* ¾ teaspoon baking powder

* ½ teaspoon baking soda

* ¼ teaspoon salt

* ½ stick (4 tablespoons/2 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

* ¼ cup solid vegetable shortening (i.e., Crisco)

* ½ cup sugar

* ½ cup molasses (not blackstrap)

* 2 large eggs

* 1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats

* 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds or peanuts are good)

* 1 cup coarsely chopped dried fruit (apricot and cherries are my faves, but I also love raisins, prunes, and cranberries, and I'd like to experiment with apple at some point)

* 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped, or about 2 cups of chocolate chips

* ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (or add an extra half cup of oats & fruit/nuts)

1. Place your oven racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat it to 325 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Fit your stand mixer the paddle attachment if you have one, or with a hand mixer and a large bowl, beat together the butter and shortening until very smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add the sugar and beat two minutes more.  Add the molasses and beat for 1 minute more.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. 

4. With the mixer on low, mix in the oats, then the dry ingredients, mixing just until they are incorporated.  Add the nuts, fruit, chocolate chips and coconut (if using), and pulse the mixer a few times to incorporate them (or just use a sturdy rubber spatula to fold them in).

(At this point, the dough can be refrigerated, covered in plastic, for two days.)

5. If you have a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, that's a perfect size for these cookies.  If you don't, simply drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared pans, leaving about 1 ½ inches between the mounds.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until the cookies are just set.  (Because they are dark in color, it's hard to judge done-ness by the color.  When in doubt, underbake I always say!)  Remove the baking sheets to cooling racks and let the cookies rest on the sheets for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool.  Cookies keep for about a week in an airtight container.  

Another do-ahead trick is to scoop the dough into mounds onto a cookie sheets and freeze them.  Once they're frozen solid, the mounds can be transferred to a freezer bag and kept for up to 2 months.  You can bake the cookies right out of the freezer, simply add a couple of minutes to the baking time.

Enjoy!

Never Too Late For Christmas Cookies

 

Hello December, goodbye December.  Well, maybe not goodbye just yet, but wow, only a week left?  That went fast!  Here's what I've been doing this December: Not cooking.  Packing.  Moving.  Unpacking.  Eating catered food.  Way too much of it.  More not cooking.  Unwrapping a ridiculous number of new cookbooks(!!!).  Here's what I'll be doing very soon: Cooking!  And blogging again!  And joining a gym.  I need that right about now. 

Probably a number of you know this, but I'll fill in those who don't.  I finished my gardening job, left Nantucket (*tear) last Monday.  Moved back in with the 'rents in Boston.  Why? you ask.  Well, I'll tell you: Starting culinary school in January!  Blogging has fallen by the wayside these past three weeks due to the packing and moving and holiday parties, not to mention many late-night Christmas hat knitting sessions/Jane Austen movie marathons that often occur for me right before the holidays.  And even if I had had time to write, I didn't think you'd care to hear about the multiple nights of scrambled eggs and salsa for dinner, or any of the other bizarre food combos I came up while attempting to only eat out of my pantry to minimize the amount of stuff I had to move.

Then I got home, and even thought I left about 5/6ths of my stuff in boxes in my parents' garage, it took a full 2 days to unpack the remaining 1/6, with ample breaks for Christmas cookie baking.  Which, let's be honest: was a lot more fun that the unpacking part. 

Every year I bake the cookies for my family's Christmas party.  I've tried different kinds of cookies over the years, which have mostly been good, but generally too plentiful.  So this year I decided to go minimal (only 3 kinds instead of 4 or 5), and I actually returned to 2 favorite cookies that I had made in years past, in part because they are good enough to warrant revisiting, but mostly because I've been too busy justify spending time searching out new recipes.  Incidentally, the 2 cookies that I returned to were 2 that I had made the first year my parents lived in their new condo, aka, the year that everything I attempted to bake was a disaster.  I remember sending my friend Liz of Baked By Liz an email that year, detailing all of my frustrations with the new kitchen, which basically went something like this:

....The ovens are tiny, I had to buy all new mini cookie sheets, I can only bake one batch of cookies at a time, and if I try to use both ovens at once (they are double ovens), all hell breaks loose.  One runs way hot, the other runs way cold, and everything either turns out rock hard, or else never bakes.  I had to throw out dozens and dozens of cookies, and a cake, and start again from scratch, this time with oven thermometers....which have helped, slightly.

Luckily, this being the 3rd holiday season in the not-as-new-anymore condo, I have gotten slightly better at the ovens.  Here's the trick: OVEN THERMOMETERS!  Have I sung their praises lately?  Also, accepting the fact that the ovens misbehave terribly when both are on at the same time, accepting that you can only reliably use one at a time, and since they are the smallest ovens you will ever see, realizing you can only bake about 10 cookies at once.  Which, when you're baking for a party of 60 people...can take a while.  So never try to do anything quickly.  My game plan was to make the three cookies doughs at night, and then roll and bake the cookies the following day, when I had ample time to do so.  Incidentally all 3 cookies that I chose were ones with doughs that took well to refrigeration (and in the case of one, actually required it).  They all get rolled into shape, dipped into sugars, and then baked, although I didn't even notice the similarities in their methods until I was well underway.  A few cookies in I decided that it would be more efficient to weigh out each cookie, which sounds completely compulsive, and probably is, but actually was a lot easier than trying to eyeball their sizes.  I set my electric scale to grams, which is the smallest increment, and decided, after weighing a few dough balls, that 20 grams was an ideal weight for each cookie.  After a few, I was actually scooping out pieces of dough that were nearly perfect, but it was nice not to have to even them out at the end, taking a little pinch of dough off one and adding it to another.  I liked the peace of mind, knowing they were all identical so that they would all look the same, and bake up perfectly; in the future I will always use this technique.

So now that I've told you at length about how the cookies were make and weighed and baked, perhaps I should tell you what they actually are, before Christmas is over (2 hours, I can do this!). 

In perceived order of popularity (based on how many of each were left after the party):

3rd place:  Molasses Gingerbread Cookies

2nd place: Espresso Crinkles

1st place: Mexican Wedding Cookies

Incidentally, the fewer the ingredients, the more popular the cookie.  Although I suspect my completely unscientific observations were thrown off by the fact that the gingerbread ones were in the room where fewer guests were mingling, whereas the other two were in the room where about 90% of the guests were mingling.  Just a guess.  But in my opinion, all were delicious and all will be made again.  And so, without further ado, the recipes. 

Molasses Gingerbread Cookies (Adapted, only slightly, from the Whole Foods website)

Makes about 30 cookies

* 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 3/4 teaspoon allspice
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar 

* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
* Zest of 1 orange

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Add egg, vanilla and molasses and beat until combined. While continuing to beat on low speed, add flour mixture and beat just until combined. 

Ali creams the butter and sugar together in style

3. Combine the remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar and orange zest in a shallow bowl. To form each cookie, roll a scant 2 tablespoons of the dough into a 1 1/4-inch ball, (If you have an electronic scale, 20 grams is an ideal weight for each cookie).  Then roll in sugar mixture and transfer to ungreased baking sheets (lined with parchment paper, if you have it) spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. 

4. Bake until outer edges begin to set and centers are soft and puffy, 9 to 11 minutes. Cool for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks and set aside to let cool completely.  Store in airtight containers if you're not serving these right away, to maintain softness.  

Espresso Crinkles (Adapted, only slightly, from Cooking Light, December 2008)

Makes about 24 cookies

My only real change to these cookies is to melt the chocolate in a mixing bowl over a double boiler instead of in a sauce pan and then transferring it to a bowl, thereby saving one dirty dish.  I also used a whole egg instead of 2 egg whiles--a little fattier, but less waste.  Either way is fine, though.  My only other tip is to make sure you don't over-bake them--at their best they are soft and chewy inside, just like a dense, fudge-y brownie.  Delish!

* 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
* 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided
* 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
* 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 5 1/4 teaspoons canola oil
* 1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
* 1 teaspoon instant espresso granules
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 3 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 large egg or 2 large egg whites

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Sift together flour, 3/4 of a cup of powdered sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Combine oil and chocolate in a glass or metal bowl and set up a double boiler over a small saucepan over low heat; heat until chocolate melts, stirring constantly. Add espresso granules to pan; stir until blended. Remove from heat and allow chocolate mixture to cool 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, syrup, and vanilla. Add egg or egg whites, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stirring gently just until combined. Cover; chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350° F.

Arranging the Espresso Crinkles...not in style.

 \4. Roll dough into 1-inch balls (If you have an electronic scale, 20 grams is an ideal weight for the dough balls).  Dredge balls in remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar; place balls 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until tops are cracked and almost set. Cool cookies on pan 2 minutes or until set; remove from pan. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

 

Espresso Crinkles, waiting to go into the oven

 
Mexican Wedding Cookies (From Paula Deen, of the Food Network)
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

These incredibly simple cookies are divine as they crumble gently when you bite into them then melt on your tongue.  Five ingredients have never come together so beautifully before, let me assure you!  A mini Cuisinart is an ideal tool for chopping the pecans, but you can also do it with a nice big knife if that's all you have. 


* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands
* 1 cup pecans, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together at low speed until it is smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula.

3. With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough, roll it into a short log with slightly tapered ends, then shape into a crescent. Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until very lightly browned. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar, until completely coated.  (I found that my first layer of sugar melted and formed almost a sugar frosting on the cookies, so I dredged them again when they were cooler to get a nice (albeit messy!) powdery finish on them.  Cool on wire racks.

 Mexican Wedding Cookies and Molasses Gingerbread Cookies 

plated, just waiting on the Espresso Crinkles

Enjoy these cookies any time of the year, but for now let me wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Apple Walnut Bread

 

This recipe begins with one kind of past-its-prime apple sitting in my fridge.  Most people would just chuck it out in the woods for the deer (if your house is surrounded with them, like mine is), or in the garbage.  However, I used it as an excuse to make a loaf of apple walnut bread that I'd been eyeing on a great baking site, Joy The Baker.  And I am so glad I did!

In addition to the apples (you'll need 2 for this recipe), this bread is loaded with healthy and delicious walnuts, flax seeds, wheat flour, and flavorful brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Oh, and butter.  Yum :)  However, if you're weary of butter, I imagine that it could be replaced by canola oil, which is much lower in saturated fat and a tiny bit higher in unsaturated fat.  Also, if you don't want to invest in flax seeds (they run about $5 a bag, kind of steep, although extremely healthy!) you can definitely leave them out.  So whether you've got a couple of apples you need to get rid of, or you're just looking for a delicious and easy bread suitable for breakfast, snacking, or dessert, bake this bread!

Apple Walnut Flax Seed Bread (From Joy the Baker)

Makes one 9×5-inch loaf

* 1 cup all-purpose flour

* 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

* 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

* 2 teaspoons baking powder

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

* 2/3 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, see substitution note below)

* 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

* 1 cup grated apples

* 1/2 cup coarsely chopped apples

* 1 tablespoon flax seeds

* 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, divided

* About 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon and 1 tablespoon sugar, mixed, for sprinkling

Note: If you don't have buttermilk (I won't lie: I never buy it), here's what you do:  Measure 2/3 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar, and put in a measuring cup.  Add milk until it makes 2/3 of a cup.  Stir, then let sit for about 5 minutes, and voila, buttermilk substitute!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan.

 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flours through spices)

3.  In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.

4.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Add the chopped and grated apple, flax seeds and half of the walnuts and fold them into the batter.

5.  Spoon batter into prepared pan and top with granulated sugar, cinnamon and the rest of the walnuts.  Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Do not fill your pan this much!  Spillage will occur!  (My pan was too small, and I was greedy and 

tried to fit all the batter in.  It didn't work.  Guess I should have used the right size pan...)

6.  Let cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes.  Cool completely before wrapping and storing.  Enjoy!

Kinda Healthy Cookies

  

We're celebrating Erik's birthday tonight with a dessert party--I decided to take it easy on myself!  Nantucket (along with the rest of the northeast!) has been experiencing some pretty wild weather this weekend (driving rain and 50 mph winds, anyone?), and about half our (potential) guests were off-island this weekend, so I can't tell whether it's going to be a small crowd or a big(ger) one.  Which of course makes planning a nightmare.  If all invited guest do arrive...well, maybe the cake just won't be big enough (no, I'm sure it will, I just like to worry).  If, on the other hand, the 6 people who were off-island are stuck there, then, well, plenty of dessert to go around.  All this fake worrying is just an excuse to make more cookies though.  Let's be honest.  

Since the main event tonight (Chocolate-Espresso Semifreddo Cake, recipe forthcoming) isn't exactly what one would call...what's that word...?  Oh, right, healthy.  Since it's not healthy, I thought I might cater to the more health conscious folk and make a batch of cookies that were featured in an old issue of Self magazine that I found sitting on my bedroom floor: Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies.  Quick and easy and entirely pantry staples, at least for me.  The "healthy" part is that they just use egg whites as a binder, so the only fat comes from the nuts, which are heart-healthy.  And if you've ever read the nutrition facts on unsweetened cocoa, you'll know that it's virtually fat free, contains fiber, as well as those dark chocolate antioxidants.  Of course, the sugar ensures that they're still yummy enough to be considered a cookie, and I wouldn't say eating one of these cookies is comparable to eating, say, and apple, but as far as cookies go, they're tasty without being too sinful, and best enjoyed with some cold milk.

Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies (Adapted from Self Magazine, December 2008)

Makes about 15 big cookies, or 30 Self-sized cookies

* 1 1/4 cups raw walnut halves (i.e., not toasted or salted)

* 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

* 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 Tablesppons unsweetened cocoa powder

* Pinch of salt

* 2 egg whites (or 1 egg, if you don't mind the egg yolk)

* 1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F

2. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.  Roughly chop the walnuts, spread them out on the cookie sheet, and toast  for 9 minutes, then cool.

3.  In a mixing bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, and salt .

4.  When walnuts have cooled, chop them finely, then add to dry ingredients.

5.  Add egg whites and vanilla, and mix until the ingredients are just combined.  Initially it may seem like there isn't enough liquid, but the sugar and cocoa will dissolve into the egg whites soon enough.  

6. Using a cookie scoop or spoons, dollop the batter onto parchment paper or a silicone mat--I used a medium OXO cookie scoop (probably between 1-2 tablespoons of dough), Self recommends "rounded teaspoons."  Let your own cookie conscious be your guide!  

  I got to use my new cookie scoop!

7.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, tops should be shiny and cracked.  Definitely err on the side of underbaking though, so they remain chewy in the center.  Allow to cool on the sheets.  Store in an airtight container for up to a week.  Enjoy!

Asian Flavors In Your American Kitchen: Part One

This morning I had a breakthrough at the Stop n' Shop: it actually carries a number of Asian ingredients that I was convinced I couldn't get on island!  Happiness!  There are several recipes that I've been wanting to blog about, but I thought I couldn't get the ingredients locally, so I hadn't been able to cook them and photograph them, but now I know that even my provincial grocery store is more well stocked that I previously imagined, so this week I am tackling a few head-on.

This story starts when I was staying with my friend Kristen in DC last month.  On my last night there we made homemade vegetarian sushi and dim sum (i.e., a variety of frozen dumplings and buns).  It was so much fun that I wanted to get some supplies so I could try it at home, so this past weekend while I was off-island I went to an Asian grocery store, and picked up a bag of rice, nori, vinegar, and then impulsively I grabbed some wonton wrappers and udon noodles.

I nabbed the udon noodles for take two of a recipe called Dan Dan Noodles that I found in Cooking Light this past fall.  During take one I had to use spaghetti, because I couldn't find any proper Asian-y noodles.  As it turns out, when I pulled up the Dan Dan Noodle recipe to start cooking, I realized that it actually called for Chinese egg noodles, not udon after all, but since I had them I used them, and the recipe was just delicious.  Then today--breakthrough!--Stop n' Shop actually carried udon after all!  The other ingredient I had trouble finding the first time around was sambal oelek, a fresh chili paste.  I bought some in Chinatown over Christmas to add to the pantry, but then of course this morning when I was looking for Hoisin sauce, and there's the darn sambal oelek, right at eye level.  Not sure if it was there last November, when I was searching for it, but no matter.  So long story short, now that I have my ingredients and know even provincial grocery stores like mine have these ingredients, I feel like I can share this recipe with you, readers, since I am confident that you can find everything you'll need.

Below is the recipe for the noodles, with a few adaptations by me, most notably the addition of finely chopped red bell pepper to up the veg content and give it a punchier appearance.

 Dan Dan Noodles (Adapted from Cooking Light, November 2009)

* 1 pound frozen fresh wide Chinese egg noodles, thawed, or Udon noodles, or thick spaghetti
* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 1/3 cup dry-roasted peanuts
* 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

* 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)

* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 2 garlic cloves
* 1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
* 8 ounces lean ground pork
* 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

* 3/4 cup thinly diagonally sliced green onions
* 1 1/4 cups chopped seeded peeled cucumber

* 3/4 cup of finely chopped red bell pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Cook egg noodles in 6 quarts boiling water for 3 minutes, or cook noodle variety of choice according to package directions.  Drain noodles, reserving 3/4 cup cooking liquid.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peanuts to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Combine peanuts, soy sauce, sambal oelek, sugar, garlic, and ginger in a mini food processor.  Process until finely ground.

3. Cook pork in the large skillet over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until done, stirring to crumble. Add peanut mixture and the 3/4 cup of noodle cooking liquid to pork; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add the lime juice and onions to pork mixture, add noodles and toss well. Place about 1 3/4 cup noodle mixture in each of 4 bowls; top each serving with a generous heap of cucumber, red bell pepper, and cilantro.

 

 Sadly, all I can show you is the leftovers container, because I was so hungry while I was cooking this that I didn't take a picture of my pretty presentation.  But there it is in all it's meaty, peanuty, spicy glory.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.

Solutions for Trader Joe's Overindulgence

 

So this is what happens when I go to Trader Joe's: I get so excited by all the different nuts and dried fruits available, because they are SO CHEAP compared to the Stop 'n Shop on Nantucket, so I stock up on way too many bags of almonds, walnuts, pecans, cherries, apricots...the list goes on. I make a few recipes with them, and then the partially used bags get buried in my "partially used bags of fruits and nuts" container, which is on the top shelf of my pantry, and then I forget that I have them.... And then a few months (or a year) later I'm like, holy nuts, what the heck am I going to do with all this stuff?!!?

If you ever share this issue, then I have a solution. Homemade granola bars. They're perfect because you can use any fruit and nut remnants you may have, since you don't need a lot of any one ingredient.
  
In honor of the new year (and all those people who are committing to getting healthy), many Food Network chefs have been featuring healthy recipes on their shows. According to the Barefoot Contessa these granola bars are "so healthy" and full of things that are "so good for you." While I don't totally agree with these statements, (butter, sugar, honey?) it didn't stop me from making them because they are full of things that taste good, and they're not horrendously unhealthy, either.

Ina's recipe, found below, is pretty good, but I did make a few substitutions: I took out the cup of coconut and increased the oats by 3/4 of a cup and the almonds by 1/4 cup (and in doing so reduced the amount of saturated fat by a buttload, since coconut is loaded with the stuff). I also replaced the dried dates, which I don't care for, with dried Bing cherries, which I adore (and there were about 4 bags kicking around in the depths of my pantry). The nice thing about this kind of recipe is that as long as the quantities of dry goods follows the original recipe, it will work out. Other good add-ins could be dried blueberries, dried plums (always sounds better than prunes), raisins, dried strawberries, sunflower seeds, or anything else that tickles your palate. 


Homemade Granola Bars (adapted from Ina Garten)

* 2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
* 1 cup sliced almonds
* 1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
* 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ (often found in the cereal aisle near the oatmeal)
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 2/3 cup honey
* 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 1/2 cups of chopped dried fruit, such as cherries, dates, apricots, or cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 by 12-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray.
 

2. Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut (if using) together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

4. Combine the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dried fruit and mix well.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Using your wet fingers or a silicone spatula, press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

 Enjoy!