Recipes – Page 40 – Wait…are those…cookies?!

January 20, 2012January 24, 2012

Channeling my inner Aztec Warrior

Rainy weather needs cookies.

Besides, there was an appalling lack of dessert around here, and I was in need of something to satisfy my sweet tooth (healthfully, if you please). So. I decided to make healthy(ish) cookies! Who doesn’t love cookies? And besides, these are good for you. You want to know why these are good for you? Suuuure you do! Alrighty, here’s the dealio: These cookies have not only oats (a whole grain), and peanut butter (healthy fats), but they also have CHIA SEEDS!

Pause for effect.

Chia_seeds — chia! I didn't take this photo, though :) credit: http://www.buybigorganic.co.uk

You know, like those little things that you grow chia pets with? Apparently they’re useful for something beyond growing funny green “hair” on a statue (who knew?!).

I have been putting these on oatmeal since freshman year of college (and, in fact, asked for them instead of candy one year for Christmas), but I’ve never really baked with them until this year! It’s fun, you should try it :)

These tiny little seeds date back to the time when the Aztecs were using them for sustained energy, as the main ration for their warriors (eating them makes me feel fierce). A higher source of omega-3 fatty acids than flax seed, these little babies are a superfood! They’re incredibly high in antioxidants, provide fiber, and are also a good source of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc. Woah. That’s a mouthful for a tiny little seed! And they are seriously tiny. But they can be added to all kinds of things, with no taste addition (at least, not that I notice). Apparently there’s also been research that suggests chia seeds slow the breakdown of carbohydrates, which in turn slows their conversion into sugar. They also have anti-inflammatory properties, and provide quality protein. All pluses, in my book. But enough with the nutrition lesson! I just needed to give you even more of a reason to make and eat these cookies.

I’ve just been validated by my lovely roomie as well: as I sit here writing this, I can hear Kira “mmm yumm-ing” from the other room over their deliciousness! These cookies were a big hit with both of us, hooray!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Cookies

Adapted from Yummy Mummy, here! I got 13 decently sized cookies.

1.5 c rolled oats
1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tbsp chia seeds!
1/4 c (half a stick) butter, room temp or softened in the microwave if you’re lazy like me
1/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c natural peanut butter (just peanuts and salt, please! Mine was chunky, which is extra delicious)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
a good handful of chocolate chips (extra points for heart healthy dark chocolate)…mine was about 1/3 c

Preheat the oven to 350, and line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking powder, and chia seeds. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add in peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla, and beat to combine. Stir in dry ingredients, as well as chocolate chips. This dough is flaky, so I just got messy and used my hands to shape little cookie balls. They don’t spread, so feel free to cram them all on one cookie sheet (instant gratification, yesss). I flattened the tops a bit, and stuck on the chocolate chips that insisted on falling out. (Why do chocolate chips never want to stick to dough with peanut butter in it?!)

Bake them for 10 minutes, until lightly golden! Devour. Channel your inner Aztec warrior.

January 19, 2012

Boatloads of rain? Make mountains of curry!

mountains of curry in exchange for boatloads of rain!

The best way to combat boatloads of rain?

Make boatloads of curry!

Since Salem and the Willamette Valley are in the process of attempting to become the new Atlantis and submerge completely under water, we’ve had (by some estimates) about 6 inches of rain in the last 57 hours. Apparently the weather gods have gone completely nuts… there are creeks flooding all over the place, and according to the Statesman Journal, this is a once every hundred year occurrence, where the Willamette River rises about 30 feet. Excellent. At least I live on the second floor… Perhaps I should start constructing an ark? I’ve rather resigned myself to being damp for the foreseeable future. Forget about wet feet, I’ve been damp all over for about 4 days! Yeeesh.

Anyway, because I didn’t work today (the kiddies at Bush Elementary, where I work, got sent home due to extreme weather) I ended up with a strange amount of free time. And a headache. Which meant that I wanted nothing to do with my thesis. Consequently… baking/cooking explosion! Why would I spend the afternoon doing anything else when it’s beyond nasty outside? Right. That’s what I thought too.

Which means that mega dinner happened. Because boatloads of rain calls for boatloads of curry! And because curry is spicy, sweet, and warming all at the same time: a good thing to consume when it’s semi-monsooning outside. And then flatbreads. And cookies. I wasn’t just going to make curry, with no accoutrements, now was I?! How boring. I am now feeling quite productive and refreshed. And full. (I would perhaps like to digest just a wee bit faster… I want cookies!)

So. Without further babble, here is tonight’s din din! Deeeelicious. Go make yourself some. I would invite you over to eat some of mine (since Kira and I will now be eating curry for the next million years, hahah oops. I made a lot!), except you might have to locate a boat to come see me… maybe paddle upriver like a salmon?

curry isn't curry without a HUGE BLOB of chutney

Mega-ton of Chicken Coconut Curry, with Oregano-Yogurt Flatbread

Curry adapted from the blog Including Cake, here! Flatbread recipe adapted from here! This makes… a lot of curry. Which is a good thing! Helloooo, leftovers! And look how good it is for you! Lots of beta carotene from the sweet potatoes and orange pepper, and garbanzo beans are high in fiber, antioxidants, and minerals like molybdenum and manganese. Plus coconut is good for you on all levels :)

For the curry:

1 large, 1 small (or 2 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1/2 a large onion, diced
2 tbsp Madras curry powder (only the best!)
1 orange bell pepper, sliced (or whatever color you have)
1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
1 can of light coconut milk
cornstarch mixed with water, if needed to thicken
cooked chicken (if you want. I added a broiled chicken breast to mine for extra protein)
I would have added spinach, if I’d had any! Next time :)

Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add onion, cooking for a few minutes until soft. Add curry powder, stirring to combine. Cook for a minute more. Toss in sweet potato chunks, bell pepper, chickpeas, and coconut milk! Simmer for about 15 minutes. At this point, add cornstarch if not thick enough for your taste. I tossed in my chicken pieces and let it simmer for about 5 more minutes. Serve hot, over flat bread, naan, or rice. And be sure to top it generously with shredded coconut (if you like that sort of thing), and mango chutney. I like me some spicyyyy curry!

Oregano Yogurt Flatbreads

I made half the recipe, which yielded 4 cute little breads. I would definitely make the whole recipe if not cooking this for just two people, so I’ll include the full measures here. I also used oregano tonight, but any spice is fine! It appealed to my olfactory sensibilities tonight :) AND it went well with the curry, bonus!

1.5 c whole wheat pastry flour
2.5 tsp herbs of choice (I used oregano)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c yogurt (I used nonfat plain, not greek, as it was what I had on hand)
a bit of canola oil, for cooking

Whisk together flour, herb of choice, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add in yogurt, and stir to combine. The dough will be shaggy-ish, so add a little yogurt if it looks to dry. Mine seemed fine with the amount given, but I might make it again, and see what happens with a bit more. I found my breads to have a nice consistency as is.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it holds together and is not sticky. Divide it into the number of breads you want, and roll it into balls. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.

Swirl a bit of canola oil in the bottom of a nonstick skillet. When the oil is hot, plop the flattened dough into the pan, and cook until golden brown on each side. Serve hot, preferably with a mountain of curry!

January 17, 2012February 20, 2012

I’ll take quiche over slush, thanks.

an Imperial cruiser? Or a slice of quiche...?

I apologize for the lack of recipes lately! What with returning to Salem and starting classes again, I’ve been rather busy. And lazy, haha. BUT. Fear not, hopefully things will start returning to normal! This semester is brimming with potential recipes to be tried and eaten (I just have to figure out what they are, haha). I fully intend to eat extremely well this semester, and graduate with full gastronomic satisfaction.

The weather in Salem has been rather ridiculous… we’ve had snow and some nasty slush that makes walking around a tad wet. I believe the weather gods have temporarily decided on rain, but you never know around here. Today on my way to class, it decided to snow heavily, except not stick. So it turned into nasty slush which got me and my feet soaked. Which I’m normally okay with, except that by the time I’d dried out, it was time to walk back from class. Mrrrggg. I’d be quite happy with snow, as long as it was somewhere I could ski on it! Are you listening, weather gods?! Send the snow to the mountains, and some rain to California. It’s a bit dry there at the moment… mmk? Good. I’m glad you’re listening.

Anyway. Quiche seems like a good way to combat the cold and ridiculousness of this weather… it’s warm, quick, and comforting. I tried this recipe out at home, and loved it, so as soon as I got back, Kira and I made our own version. It’s made excellent leftovers for the last few days as well. This recipe is great, as it’s very flexible, and is good for you :) Lots of veggies and good eggy protein. It comes together quickly as well, which is a perk when you’ve spent the last hour grocery shopping in snow/sleet/slush/rain/cold (would that be sneet? Or slain? or just ridiculous). Yum.

mmmm apple crunch. you see the bite out of it? hehe.

Pesto-Veggie Quiche with an Oatmeal Crust

Adapted from (Neverhome)Maker, here! Makes one 9″ quiche.

*Update from Feb. 20th: I made this the other day with no onion, lots of baby broccoli and spinach + bell pepper, and 1/3 c parmesan + 1/3 c goat cheese. It is AMAZING. I like this combo possibly better than the one posted below, but really where I’m going with this is that this quiche is incredibly adaptable to whatever is in your fridge!

Preheat the oven to 400, and lightly grease a 9″ pie pan.

For the crust:

3/4 c rolled oats
1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour
pinch of salt
3 tbsp Earth Balance
3 tbsp of your milk of preference (I’ve done it once with soy and once with 1% milk, and both worked fine)

For the quiche:

3 whole eggs
3 egg whites
1 heaping tbsp grainy mustard
ground pepper to taste
2 tbsp milk of choice
2 tbsp basil pesto (I like Trader Joe’s!)
1/2 a large onion, sliced
1/2 a good-sized red pepper (or a whole, depending on your preference)
a handful of mushrooms, sliced
a handful of fresh spinach
2/3 c Parmesan, grated

it looks like a mountain. I only wish it was!!

In a food processor, pulse oats, salt, and flour until combined. Pulse in butter, until it gets crumbly, then add milk. The dough should form into a rough ball. Take the dough out, and roll it out between two sheets of wax paper. It should be relatively thin. Press it into the pie dish, evening out the edges and making a nice top edge. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, and then set aside. Lower the oven temperature to 350.

While the crust is baking, heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute the onion, until translucent, then add mushrooms and pepper. Cook until slightly soft, about 10 minutes total.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, ground pepper, mustard, pesto, and milk of choice. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the bottom of the prebaked crust, and then dump in veggies and onion. Pour the egg mixture over the top of all this. Pop into your preheated oven, and bake for 35 minutes, or until lightly browned and set!

This is particularly good with toasted apple-crunch bread, courtesy of the local bakery and your nice apartment management’s Christmas gift. As Kira said, “It’s like they know us, or something!” (Breadaholics. At least we embrace it!)

January 5, 2012

Healthy fats are my excuse to eat [more] dessert

You see those classy Spongebob liners? Oh yes.

Okayyyy… I lied. I promised you healthy things, but oops oh well! You get cupcakes instead! Life happened and I was notified of a demand for sweet things. And of course, I can always be persuaded to make dessert. Teeheehee. Plenty of time for healthy things later.

Besides, in terms of desserts, these actually aren’t all that bad… perhaps they qualify as a healthyish item? I think so. Whole wheat and a good dose of healthy hazelnut and coconut fats. Plus, they’re vegan! So no pesky saturated fats from butter. And cupcakes are adorable. They’re like tiny cakes, which makes it totally acceptable to eat multiples in one sitting. Especially if the fats are good for you. (I will, apparently, come up with any excuse to eat dessert. Not like this is anything new…)

Life is too short to NOT eat dessert! I’ve decided I need about 5 stomachs to accommodate all the food I want to eat. Desserts included. I need to be like a cow. Except minus the ability to digest grass (they have… what is it… a rumen? to digest grass? I’ll pass on that bit, grass looks unappealing, thank you).

…

ANYwayyy. Let’s move on, after that semi-awkward tangentially irreverent thought. These cupcakes are fab! And they have nothing to do with cows. They’re full of coconutty goodness, and I highly recommend them. Make them, eat them, love them. Preferably with friends you haven’t seen in ages. Dessert with company is always the best idea :]

Vegan Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut-Hazelnut Frosting

Slightly adapted from (Never home)Maker, here! Makes 12 normal-sized cupcakes.

For the cupcakes, acquire:

1.5 c whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 c sugar (I used half turbinado, half regular granulated)
1/2 c unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c light coconut milk
1/3 c canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

For the frosting!

1/4 c light coconut milk
1/2 c Earth Balance (vegan butter)
2 c powdered sugar
1/3 c finely ground hazelnuts (blitz whole ones in the food processor for a bit)
1/2 c unsweetened, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350, and line a muffin tin/cupcake pan with liners. Or not, depending on your preference.

In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking soda, coconut, and salt. In a smaller bowl, combine coconut milk, canola oil, and vanilla. Combine wet into dry, stir just to combine. Add apple cider vinegar at the last bit (so that you get max fluffiness out of the cupcakes, when the baking soda reacts with the vinegar). Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Mine were done after about 23. They’ll be done when a tester comes out clean.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make your frosting!

In a bowl, combine coconut milk, Earth Balance, and powdered sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat until it reaches frosting consistency, on high speed. Stir in hazelnut and shredded coconut. Frost cupcakes when they’re completely cool! I topped mine with a sprinkle of cocoa powder, which I found to add a nice counterpoint to the sweet frosting.

Eat. Drool. Enjoy your good fats, and revel in the fact that you’re being sneakily healthy :]

January 2, 2012January 1, 2012

Impatience-Free Baking is a virtue

I really do love cooking long and complicated things. I mean, like Austrian pastry complicated status. Something that makes you feel ridiculously accomplished at its completion.

However.

I might, perhaps, love instant gratification just a little bit more. Wouldn’t you rather have a cookie NOW, instead of waiting for the dough to chill for 24 to 48 hours?! Pshhh, I don’t plan that far in advance. I don’t even plan far enough in advance to have the butter softening on the counter. That’s what the microwave is for, jeez. Call me lazy. And I am. But. I make up for it occasionally with really absurdly complicated things…

This is not one of those things. Because let’s be honest, yeast is annoying. I mean, yeast is great when I want to make bread or pizza and I have lots of time and I’ve been thinking about a recipe for a long time. When I want gooey delicious goodness RIGHTNOWINFRONTOFME, it’s not so awesome.

Which is why I turned to this no-rise, no-wait, (nearly) instant gratification recipe for cinnamon rolls. That and because Vacuum Vati LOOOVES cinnamon rolls (like, as much as I LOOOVE chocolate chip cookies. that’s how much). AND because I happened to have all the ingredients handily to hand. AND it [was] the holidays (sorry, this was supposed to be a post around Christmas, oops). But it’s not like it has to be the holidays for you to make these… in fact, so not. Cinnamon rolls never need an excuse. Just like cookies! Wait. Let me clarify. Good food that makes you happy NEVER needs an excuse. Especially when you eat it with people who make you happy. Especially when there is no waiting involved. Even better!

Impatience-Free Cinnamon Rolls

From the Dainty Chef, over here!

These are delicious, as a) they’re filled with gooey goodness, but also because b) they have an interesting mix of spices in the filling—cinnamon, cardamom, and allspice. It lends them an unusual taste, a nice change from standard cinnamon rolls.

For the dough:

3/4 c low fat cottage cheese
1/3 c low fat buttermilk
1/4 c sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2.25 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

For the gooey delicious goodness:

2/3 c brown sugar
3/4 oz (1.5 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom

such an adorable little spiral... soon to be decorating my stomach.

Preheat the oven to 400.

In a food processor, combine cottage cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla, pulsing until smooth. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and pulse just until the dough clumps together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead several times. Roll it out into a faintly rectangular shape… mine was a bit lopsided, although that turned out fine, as it made for varying roll sizes (nice for my family, and for Vacuum Vati, who got the big ones).

Combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl (brown sugar and spices). Brush the dough with the 1.5 tbsp of melted butter, leaving a small border. Press the sugar-spice filling into the dough, evenly covering the whole surface. Starting at the long edge, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the seam, but leave the ends open.

Using a sharp knife, cut the rolls into equal pieces. Mine fit perfectly into a standard loaf pan, but if you have fatter rolls, an 8″ square cake pan works just as well. They should fill the pan, but small gaps are okay. Bake for about 20-22 minutes (I took mine out at 20, and they had a perfectly gooey interior).

I frosted mine (because, seriously, cinnamon rolls are SO NOT complete without frosting) with the frosting/glaze that I use for Crazy Chocolate cake. I never measure, but it’s essentially powdered sugar, Earth Balance spread, and vanilla extract. Mix like crazy until you have the taste/consistency you want… and swipe over your cinna-rolls when they’re still slightly warm. The glaze will harden as it cools.

Drool. Eat. Gloat, since you only had to wait a little while for the oooewygooeydeliciousness to appear in front of you.

I do apologize for the glut of dessert recipes recently… I promise something healthy… soon! Ish. We’ll get there. Eventually…

January 1, 2012January 1, 2012

Cookies are not structurally-sound building materials (sadly)…

Wait… are those…?!

COOKIESSSS!!!

I dare you to NOT drool over these.

Even after the glut of holiday treats, why not have oneeee teensy cookie more? (Meeester Creeasote?! hehehee) It’s still New Year’s Day, after all, and as the Rose Parade isn’t until tomorrow, that kind of makes tomorrow New Year’s too. Ish. Enough that I can say it is, and eat holiday cookies. And really, chocolate chip cookies are my ideal way to ring in the new year. They go with champagne, right?! And if I eat them for New Year’s, along with my black-eyed peas and cabbage, doesn’t that mean I’ll have lots of chippies in the coming year? I hope so.

Besides, if I can drool over these, so can you. We know I’m the ludicrously picky chippy cookie-snob, the one who will only eat chocolate chip cookies that conform to my exacting specifications. Which is why I usually end up at my favorite bakery, rather than making my own (instant gratification has nothing to do with it, oh no, of course not). But THESE.

These actually are deeeelicious. Not exactly to my bakery specifications, but delicious enough that I inhaled two fresh off the cooling rack (cooling? psh. Cookies don’t need to cool. Cooling racks are more like the cookie-waiting-to-be-eaten holding area). I would definitely make these again, which is saying quite a bit coming from me. They are perfectly crispy on the edges, with a chewy, vanilla-y middle. They do have a really pronounced vanilla flavor, which I (and Vacuum Vati) love. The only way they could be more perfect is if they were a bit fatter… they flattened out just a bit as they cooled. Not that this stopped me from eating them, clearly. Don’t let it deter you…

these are about to get up close and personal with my tummy gremlins

Crispy-Chewy Chocolate Chippies

Adapted from Full Circle Foodie, here!

I probably got about 30 cookies, most a few inches across, and several that were *ahem* larger (I may have eaten those myself. Shhh, don’t tell. Another picky specification: cookies are supposed to be BIG).

Rummage in your pantry for the following:

2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 c unsalted butter, melted
1 c brown sugar, packed*
1/2 c white sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 c chocolate chippies!**

*I left the sugar content as is in these, since brown sugar is what makes them chewy. However… for a second batch, I think I would play with reducing sugar, like in my other recipes. Though I like deadly sweet (occasionally), I’ve come to prefer less sweet versions. Likely the sugar could be cut by about 1/4 without effect. Oops, oh well, I guess I have an excuse to make another batch…

**I also prefer a higher cookie to chocolate ratio in my cookies, so I cut the chocolate by half. Up to you, whatever floats your cookie boat!

This is like the Isengard of cookies (only not evil)

Preheat the oven to 325, and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. In a mediumish bowl, whisk together melted butter and sugars until fluffy (no stand mixers allowed for this recipe! Use it as a bicep workout). Add in whole egg, yolk, and vanilla, and whisk until your arm falls off. Fold into dry ingredients, as well as choc chippies. Drop by one-inch ish scoop for smallish cookies, or fatty scoops like mine for bigger ones. Or a combo. Like I said, whatever makes your cookie float! (in milk, ha)

Bake for about 14 to 16 minutes. Mine were about 14 for the smaller ones, 16 for the larger ones. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets, and then transfer to the cookie holding area (as in, those waiting to be discreetly scarfed on the way through the kitchen).

Eat, and relish the fact that not only will you have good luck in the New Year (thanks to my Southern roots: black-eyed peas and cabbage), but that my future will be rife with cookies. Can’t ask for a better 2012 than that. Wait… are those…?! :]

heheh whoops... Isengard was apparently not seismically sound...

December 28, 2011

Tart-tastic Antioxidants!

I’m feeling less than creatively humorous today…It must be on account of all of the holiday sweets I’ve been consuming lately. Oops. Whatever, that’s not stopped me from baking like a crazy! Really, does anything ever stop me? … Correct answer: No.

BUT.

Bring on the healthy (ish) dessert! I win, I win!! Delicious AND nutritious (or hey, I can at least tell myself that, right?!). I sort of needed a break from all of the layer cakes. A short break, mind you, but a break none the less. In comes the tart! This tart is sort of a combination of a rice pudding and a tart crust, but it’s vegan! Which is awesome, as I’d like to get into more vegan baking (I find it intriguing). Besides, I LOVE rice pudding, and this definitely qualifies. It’s also really akin to a sticky rice dessert, which I ALSO LOVE (are we seeing a trend here?!), which therefore also makes it delicious.

On the nutritious side, it has a mostly minimal amount of fat in it—coconut oil is good for you, anyway! It also is made with black rice (sometimes known as Forbidden Rice, as only the emperor of China was allowed to eat it for the benefit of his longevity), which has more of the antioxidant antohcyanin than blueberries! It’s high in fiber, iron, and an excellent source of minerals. AND Kind of can’t go wrong, when I’m eating antioxidants for dessert! No wonder the emperor was so protective of his rice. But the common people have it now, so ha! Besides all that, it is a gorgeous purple color. Which makes my eyes AND my stomach happy. Everyone wins. Including the gremlins that hang out in my stomach, as we know they loooove color.

But wait. There is even more nutritionalness to be found in this dessert! The crust is made with whole grains and cashews (which contain the same oleic acid–monounsaturated fatty acid found in olive oil), and coconut oil, which is insanely good for you (the lauric acid is an antioxidant, among a million other things).

Okaaayyy. Enough with the nutrition lesson. I just really had to convince you how good this is for you… so that you’ll go home and make it. It’s fab, you won’t regret it. And then eat a slice. Or two. Or five. And revel in the fact that you’re making your body happy! It will thank you later :)

Black Rice Tart

From NeverHomeMaker, original here! (and their blog is fab, check it out!). Makes one tart.

For the crust:

1/3 c raw cashews
1/2 c rolled oats
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c coconut oil (because it’s good for youuu!)
1/8 tsp/a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp lavender (we grow our own)
1 tsp vanilla

For the sticky rice

2 c water
1 c black rice, uncooked
1/3 c maple syrup
1 can of coconut milk (I used light from Trader Joe’s and it turned out fine!)
1/3 c unsweetened coconut flakes

Whatcha do!

Preheat the oven to 325, and lightly grease a tart pan (or a pie dish—my tart pan is in Salem, so that’s what I used).

In a food processor, process the cashews and 1/4 c rolled oats until finely ground. Add the rest of the oats, lavender and salt, pulsing to combine. I left some slightly larger chunks. Pour into a medium sized bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the coconut oil. Once melted, stir in vanilla and brown sugar, and simmer over a low flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Mine looked weirdly separated/congealed, but turned out fine. Pour the hot syrup over the dry ingredients, and combine thoroughly. Press the crust into your pan of choice, making sure to cover the bottom and go up the sides a ways. Bake for 5 minutes, then let cool. When cool enough, let it set in the refrigerator.

While the crust is cooling, start the water for the rice. When it boils, add rice, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Add coconut milk, maple syrup, and coconut flakes, and continue to cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes more. I stirred continuously (it makes for meditative thinking time, hehe), but I’m not entirely sure this is necessary—occasional stirring would likely be okay. Transfer the pudding to a bowl, and let cool. Chill briefly in the fridge before using. Once chilled, pour the pudding into the tart shell, and chill until serving. I topped mine with more shredded coconut.

It was deeeelicous! Mine had a little trouble coming out of the dish cleanly—my crust was rather sticky. Next time… more coconut oil to grease the dish. It was a bit more like a crumble than a tart slice, but ridiculously tasty nonetheless, so I wasn’t complaining ;)

December 18, 2011

The Siren Song of Dead Bananas

Hmmp. Tis the season, indeed.

…

FOR CAKE! Ha. Prepare yourself. This is only cake one of two. For now, anyway. One never can tell in this household. Wait. Let’s be real. It’s ALWAYS the season for cake! But I have more of an excuse now, hooray! Hehe.

Anyway. This cake was supposed to be the dessert for company, but I decided to make it early, because hey, why have one cake when I can have two?! So there you have it. Cake greed and several dead-ish looking bananas won out. Totally not my fault—those bananas were singing their siren song from the counter, looking all dejected and spotty. Like, “Come over and eeeeeaaaat meeeeeeee, I am tastyyyyyyy and fermentedddd!” Well actually, if a banana said that to me, I would a) run screaming out of the house, and b)…yeah. Run screaming. Anyway, these particular bananas didn’t speak to me, thankfully, but notified me via their spottiness that they would prefer to hang with some buttercream in a cake. Of course they would want to go in a cake! I mean, I could have made banana bread, but psshhh really? Why make banana bread when the holiday season gives me the excuse to cover everything that comes out of my oven in buttercream?

See? Cake.

This particular one was delicious to the max. Banana cardamom for the cake (I love banana cake already, so it wasn’t exactly a hard sell), with browned butter buttercream. WHaaaaattt. Browned butter makes everything so much better. Because there were only three of us, I decided to make a baby cake! I made half the batch, and then used a glass to cut out three layers from the 9″ cake pan… which of course left cake scraps to be eaten, yesssss! It was adorable, if I do say so. AND delicious. AND I’m on cake-making duty this Wednesday, which is excellent as this one is tragically gone.The more, the merrier!

Banana Cardamom Cake with Browned Butter Buttercream

Adapted from here! I’m including the full recipe; however, if you want a baby, halvsies cake, make half the cake and half the frosting. I had more than enough to frost the cute little three layer cake, plus the leftover cake pieces.

Cake!

2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom (I might play with adding more, next time—I felt the flavor could have been more pronounced)
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
scant 1/2 c brown sugar, loose (not packed)
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
2 c mashed ripe bananas, about 5ish, depending on the size
toasted cashews, for garnish (or, if you like nuts in your cake, you can add them to the batter… I don’t, so I left them out)

Frostinggggg!

3/4 c unsalted butter
3 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4-6 tbsp milk (I used 1%)

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease and flour your pans of choice, (it would be two 8 or 9″ for a two layer, full recipe), and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and cardamom. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth. Beat in sugars until light in color and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla, then yogurt, and then mashed bananas. Without throwing flour everywhere, add in dry ingredients and beat until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between your prepared pans, and bake for 25-35 minutes. Mine was done more around the 35 minute mark, as it’s dense cake. It wasn’t dry at all though—just perfectly done just shy of 35. Let cool in the pan for 10ish minutes, and then turn out onto cooling racks.

While the cake is cooling, brown the butter in a medium saucepan. You’ll know it’s browning, as it starts to turn to an amber color, and smells FANTASTIC. When it’s finished, pour it into the bowl you’re using for frosting—this keeps it from cooking too much more and burning. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and 3 tbsp of milk, until smooth. Gradually beat in enough milk to take it to a buttercream texture (you’ll know when it gets there—it’s lots thicker and spreadable). Frost cake when its completely cool. Garnish with toasted cashews and enjoy indulging :) Tis the season!

December 14, 2011

Squash-Powered Cat

So I really wasn’t planning on blogging about these pancakes. I mean, laziness and whatnot took over, and I was going to blow it off. BUT THEN. Semi-epic things happened, and I changed my mind.

As in, I have discovered that my cat is squash-powered. He prefers butternut.

There I was, casually opening the can of butternut squash, when Nosh (my Maine Coon goofball) comes sauntering over, looking decidedly interested in what I was doing. I looked down at him. He looked wide-eyed and cutely up at me. I said, “Surely you can’t be interested in eating this…”. He continued looking up at me, with a totally clear agenda. Whatever, I said. I let him sniff the can… and then went on with what I was doing. He kept watching. At which point I spasmodically dropped a spoon on the floor (the spoon covered in squash puree). I picked up the spoon and pointed out the squash on the floor to Nosh… who quickly trotted over and ATE. IT. ALL.

What?!

Since when do cats like squash?! But wait. It gets better.

511061349_DCcgk-M — Nosh is on the right. Jessie apparently wasn't interested in the squash...

Mom had gotten involved… and kept feeding him little bits of puree out of the bowl. (Which he ate. All of it) By this point, I’d finished at least a few pancakes, and since one was a total flip-fail (as in, it semi-splattered all over the pan…), we decided to feed it to him and see if he liked it (Keep in mind, my cats don’t normally get people food… excepting the odd bit of fish, they don’t eat much of what we do, which makes this SUPER WEIRD) (They did have a weird incident with refried beans, ages ago—perhaps they just like things in cans?!). Nosh proceeded to eat a pancake… and a half. Probably. I lost track, but what?! He’s obviously my cat, if he likes pancakes that much, hehehhe :]

Anyway, these pancakes were deeeelicious. They were originally supposed to be pumpkin, but the pumpkin we had wasn’t good anymore, so butternut happened. Much to the delight of Nosh, apparently. Who then proceeded to take a massive catnap (and by massive, I’m refering to the fact that when he sleeps, Nosh acts like one of those inflating sponges that you soak in water. Get up for two seconds, and good luck getting your spot back from the amazing expanding wonder!), and sleep off all he ate. And dream, too, with lots of chewing. I bet he was eating squash in his sleep! heeehe.

Butternut Squash Pancakes

Adapted from the Betty’s Diner Pumpkin Pancake recipe

1.25 c whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
3/4 c butternut squash puree
1 c 1% milk or your fave nondairy
2 eggs, separated
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Combine flour, spices, salt, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, squash puree, sugar and egg yolks. Add liquid to dry all at once and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy or until your arm falls off. Fold into the batter. Do the pancake dance. Eat. Feed to your cat and watch him dream about them later :]

December 11, 2011

Cleverly Averted Cornbread Fail

Cornbread is a hot commodity in this house. Like, better eat it while you can, before it gets sucked down into someone’s stomach (perhaps the resident vacuum cleaner, Vati?!). And by this house, I mean home home! As in, not Salem. Someoneeeee is home for the holidays, hoorayyy! Time for hopefully epic holiday eating, which translates to epic holiday blog fodder. Everyone wins :]

Anyway. Where I was going with this whole cornbread biz. Last night, to accompany tree-decorating, we decided on chili and cornbread (Because one without the other is clearly sacrilege). Cornbread is the first thing I remember learning to make, so I have rather a fondness for it…and besides. It’s delicious. So I got busily to work on the cornbready goodness…measuring here, whisking there… and into the oven it went. Simple pimple, right?

So not.

Twenty minutes later, I took it out. There appeared to be a number of things wrong with it. It was brown. This is a crime. Cornbread should not be brown on the bottom. Lightly golden, yes. Brown? NO. Borderline burnt? Absolutely NOT. Strike one. Second. It didn’t SMELL like cornbread. Which is not necessarily a deal breaker, but tipped me off there might be something funky with this particular batch. Strike two. Thirdly. I tasted it.

EW.

Blandest, most boring cornbread everrrr. Apparently I left something out?! Because I’ve made this same recipe with the SAME ingredients before, and it was mega tasty. Oops. Strike mega-three. After mutti and vati also tasted it and we all decided that it was not a fit partner for chili, I decided to make another batch (different recipe—I was too irritated at the last one). I really didn’t want to compost the last batch though—it felt wasteful, and I’m obviously not one to throw out food. So instead… I had a brilliant (if I do say so) idea to make it into a sort of cornbread-bread pudding, like for a breakfasty type dish! Huzzah, for frugality! AND. I winged it. But it was super tasty—Vati the Vacuum (hehhe) had two slices for breakfast. It’s lightly sweet but not overly so, and nice and corny—tasty with a drizzly of maple syrup.

Besides, I was quite proud of neatly averting a cornbread crisis… with the creation of some awkward cornbread pudding!

Awkward Cornbread Pudding

Adapted from… the jungle of my brain. Makes one 8 by 8 pan.

For the cornbread: I used a failed version (obviously), but I’m sure normal cornbread would work too, you might just want to reduce the sugar. Mine was originally sweetened with a scant 1/4 c honey. Use your favorite, and adjust sweetness to taste. For a dessertier bread pudding-type, I would use cornbread that is already on the sweet side.

1 8 by 8 pan of cornbread, cut into 1/2″ chunks. Use mostly the soft middle, and some of the crust for texture
2 eggs
1.5 c 1% milk, or non-dairy sub of choice
a good slug of cinnamon
a few grinds of fresh nutmeg
brown sugar to taste (I used somewhere around a heaping tablespoon, perhaps a bit more)
1-2 tsp turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place chunks of cornbread into a lightly greased 8 by 8 pan. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour the liquid over the cornbread in the pan, making sure to even distribute it. Sprinkle your desired amount of brown sugar evenly over the surface of the cornbread, and then use a fork to turn it under, and completely saturate the cubes of bread in the milk mixture. Sprinkle turbinado over the top (creating a yummy crust-type thing). Bake for just about 25 minutes, until custard is set, and a tester comes out clean. You shouldn’t see too much really liquidy/mushy business in the pan, but it also shouldn’t be too dry (you don’t want dry custard, ewww). Keep in mind that it’ll set up a bit when it cools in the pan. Just about 25 minutes should do it.

Eat. Preferably for breakfast, with maple syrup. MMmmmm… And revel in your cleverly averted cornbread fail.