The Food We Eat

Maple Almond Granola

 

   

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good holiday. We sure did! I'm not sure if it was the economy, the snowstorm, the change in political hands, or nothing in particular, but I was extra thankful and had an especially wonderful time with my family and friends this holiday season. I feel very fortunate to have all these great people in my life.

I like to make holiday treats for friends and family every holiday season. I like to make something different evey year, and I decided on Granola for this season. I managed to get packages out to the kids' school teachers, and then the snowstorm hit, and brought with it an end to my plan of hand-delivering granola to my close friends. Oh well, we had a huge cookie party instead and at least those who lived close enough to walk/sled were able to come. If you didn't get the granola, I promise I will make it up to you :-)

I have had many requests for the Granola recipe, and I think I know why. I have tried many granola recipes - some are way too greasy, some too dry, some too sweet, some too dessert-like, some way too lowfat (yuck). Not many hit the mark. This one is a great master recipe. Add/substitute nuts of your choice, add in more/less dry fruits, your call. But in my mind, why mess with this. The almonds and pepitas add lovely color and crunch, and the cranberries are oh-so-pretty and lend a welcome tartness. If you like ginger, some chopped up crystallized ginger would be great, but I left it out since ginger is not universally preferred.

Sprinkle the granola over your favorite yogurt, have it with some milk (this is the one time I abandon my non-fat milk and grab the whole milk), or simply have some around as a snack.

The recipe can easily be doubled or halved, but if you double it, you will still want to cook it in two batches. Unless you have a double-oven in your home (I hate you). Don't even think of cramming the doubled-amount onto 2 baking sheets! You want the granola to bake evenly!

The granola will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 weeks. For longer storage, refrigerate or freeze.

Maple Almond Granola

Adapted from Gourmet

Makes 8 cups

6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups untoasted sliced almonds

1 cup green (hulled) pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp fine-grain kosher salt

3/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup maple syrup (add a few more tablespoons if you want it sweeter)

1 cup dried cranberries

Method:

1. Place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 325F.

2. Stir oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, salt, oil, cinnamon, and maple syrup together in a large bowl.

3. Spread mixture evenly on two large jelly roll pans (or lipped baking sheets). Bake, stirring every 15 minutes, until mixture is golden brown, approx. 45 - 55 minutes. Every oven is different, so keep a close eye especially towards the end. You can tell the granola is done when it starts smelling toasted. Don't worry if it looks a bit 'wet'. It will crunch up when it cools.

4. Cool the granola completely on the baking sheets placed on a wire rack. Once completely cooled, stir in cranberries and ginger, if using.

Yeasted Waffles

Life has been very busy this Fall. Work, volunteering at A's school, soccer-mom duties, etc. It is all good and quite fun, but busy nonetheless. The good news is that it makes the weekends all that more special and worth looking forward to. Saturday mornings are usually tied up around various activities, so we have kinda made it a Sunday morning ritual to have a nice family breakfast/brunch together. Doesn't have to be someting extra fancy, just something different from the usual oatmeal, eggs, and pancake routine.

This Sunday we had breakfast with some dear friends, and A and R were super excited when I told them they'd have waffles. I mean, what's not to like? I decided to try out a yeasted waffle recipe from Cooks Illustrated. And let me tell you, they were spectacular. Amazingly fluffy, spongy, and so wonderfully yeasty. They are quite luxurious all by themselves, so all you need is some real maple syrup and a bit of powdered sugar on top for effect. We had some fruit salad with maple yogurt on the side, a good cup of coffee, and ah! A sunday morning worth waiting for.

What makes this recipe even more attractive is the fact that you make the batter the day before. In fact, you must. Batter needs to rest at least 12 hours, and up to 24 hours. So, just 5 minutes of advance planning, a waffle maker, and you're set to go. Enjoy!

Yeasted Waffles

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Makes 8 Belgian Waffles

1 3/4 cup milk (you can use any, I used skim milk)

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

2 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp table salt

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast (I used SAF)

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Heat 1 cup milk and butter in small saucepan over med-low heat until butter is melted, 3 - 5 minutes. Add cold milk to the saucepan and make sure the milk-butter mixture is just warm to touch.

2. Whisk flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk the warm milk-butter mixture into flour mixture. Continue to whisk just until batter is smooth.

3. In a small bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla until combined. Add egg mixture to batter and whisk just until incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl, cover with pastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 12 and up to 24 hours.

4. Following manufacturer's instructions, heat waffle iron. Remove batter from refrigerator. The batter will be foamy and doubled in size. Whisk batter to recombine (the batter will defate. Don't panic). Add batter to waffle iron and bake.

5. Serve waffles immediately if possible, but if you need to hold them, do so on a wire rack in a 200F oven.

Popovers

I'm sure you are not surprised when I tell you that I have been itching to put my new popover pan to use. The perfect opportunity presented itself on Saturday morning. We actually had a committment-free morning. You see, we are getting ready to go on vacation (to India, for 5 weeks!!), so our social life has been a bit out of control recently. We want to make sure we see all our friends before we leave, so we have hosted and have been hosted by lots of friends recently. Result = Not packed for trip. However, I told J that we were going to lay off all social committments this past weekend, and just hunker down and pack. Don't ask me what I did all weekend. Result = I still have not packed for trip. Oh Well!

But the good news is that I woke up dreaming of popovers for breakfast. You see, that is the beauty of quick-breads and non-yeasty baked goods. You don't have to plan ahead. And they are such a welcome treat on a weekend morning. I just love the smell of something baking in the oven -- sets me in a great mood. My waistline? That's a whole another story.....

I must admit -- I have not had popovers in a very long time. I think the last time I had some was over 5 years ago. What set it off, you ask? Well, you can blame this craving on Alton Brown. My dear friend TIVO recorded an episode of Good Eats called 'Popover Sometime' - get it? It rekindled my fondness for these uber-light, eggy, delicious creations. I know there are many ways to eat popovers, but I like mine straight out of the oven with a good pat of butter and some jam. A cuppa Joe alongside is all that I need to send me into breakfast nirvana.

I can already see my next creation having to do something with the British Yorkshire puddding stuff -- meat and popovers...lamb would be great...oh I must stop. Back to reality..

Popovers

Makes 6

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Add milk, butter, salt, and flour in a blender. Blend on high till mixture is smooth and well incorporated, about 10 - 15 seconds. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. While the batter is resting, adjust the oven rack to the lowest level and preheat the oven to 450F. Measure 1/2 tsp oil into each cup of the popover pan. Preheat the popover pan during the last 10 minutes of batter resting period (Preheating the pan plays a huge role in improving the rise achieved).

3. Working quickly, take the popover pan out of the oven and distribute the batter evenly among all 6 cups. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Popovers need steam to rise, so please do not open the oven door.

4. Lower the oven heat to 350F (while popovers are still in the oven), and bake for approx. 10 - 15 minutes longer, just until the popovers are golden brown all over.

5. Invert the pan to release popovers and cool on a wire rack 2 - 3 minutes. The popovers are best when served immediately.

Note: You might be wondering "Do I really need a popover pan?".  Well, the answer is Yes and No. If you want, you can use a muffin pan. Caveat being that your popovers will not rise as high (thus won't be as airy and magnificent), but they will still be good. If you really want to get great results, a popover pan is great, simply because the cups are taller.

Cherry Clafoutis (Clafoutis aux Cerise)

It seems that clafoutis is all the rage this year. Or maybe it seems that way to me since it has been on my mind (I even dreamt about it). I had the same experience when I was pregnant. It suddenly seemed that there was a baby-making contest in Seattle and every second woman on the street had entered....

Anyway, I was determined to make the best clafoutis there was out there. Thus began my studying of all the clafoutis recipes I could find.. in cookbooks, online, you name it. And for something that basically consists of eggs, dairy, and flour, there seemed to be a gazillion recipes for it. I concluded that there were really two types of clafoutis recipes - one that would result in a custardy pudding-cake like product; and one that would result in something more cake-like. I am no expert in the authentic French way, but I immediately knew that I would like the custardy one better. As goes authentic, I'm not even sure there is an 'authentic' recipe for a dessert that was probably whipped together in every french farm home, using the freshest fruit around.

After reading, pondering, re-reading, obsessing (phew!) I decided I would follow the recipe from Ceres and Bacchus for Plum Clafoutis, but use cherries instead, like Deb from Smitten Kitchen did.

I have been waiting for an excuse to make this for a couple of weeks now. I was really resisting the urge to make some just for our family, because I could just see myself eating way more than someone trying to fit into skinnier jeans should (or could or would). Luckily, I didn't need to agonize for too long - the perfect opportunity presented itself when we were invited to my friend Paula's house for dinner on Saturday and she asked me to bring dessert (YAY!).

I bought some uber-juicy and delicious local Bing cherries (grown in Yakima) from the Fruit Stand down the road from us and got to work on pitting them. I wanted to keep the cherries whole, so decided to pit them the non-gadget way using a plain old drinking straw. It is super easy and fun. Simply poke the straw in gently from the top. Then poke the straw firmly from the bottom and the pit pops out leaving a nice clean exit and entry hole in the cherry. No jagged edges here.

Ok, I know. I could always go out and get myself a $12 cherry pitter. I just haven't gotten around to it. Well, I do live reasonably close to Sur La Table (has to be one of my fave Kitchen Stores), but I know better. The $12 cherry pitter purchase will send me home with a $200 tab (I know very well from lots of experience). But I don't learn, 'coz I'm sure you will soon hear all about my cherry pitter shopping experience......

Oh! And guess what. I pitted a few dozen cherries and realized I was runnning pretty short on time. I have already read a lot about how the French don't pit the cherries for Clafoutis (the pits supposedly lend a nice almond flavor). So I figured! What the heck! I'll just be French and use whole unpitted cherries for the adults and use the pitted ones to make a couple individual clafoutis' for the kids (I sure did not trust R to not choke on a pit, or worse chip his baby teeth).

Cherry Clafoutis

3 cups washed cherries, unpitted

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp amaretto liqeuer (my addition)

Preheat the oven to 375F. Beat the sugar and eggs with a whisk till they turn lighter in color. Gradually, add the butter and whisk to combine. Add all the flour in and whisk to mix briefly. Slowly add in the milk and mix. Add in the vanilla and amaretto. The batter should be smooth, homogenous, and shiny. Take care not to overmix.

Put the cherries in a buttered glass or ceramic pie dish or cake pan (reserve 5 -10 cherrries). I used a 9 inch ceramic pie dish. Pour the batter over the fruit. Place the reserved cherries on top of the batter (looks pretty this way). Bake 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and batter is almost completely set in the middle. (Note: Since I had to make a few individual ones for the kids, I borrowed some of the batter to pour into small ramekins)

Let sit 15-20 minutes before serving. The crust will deflate a bit, but don't worry (see below for the 'right out of the oven' look and the 'deflated/rested' look). You can serve the clafoutis warm or at room temperature. Leftovers are excellent the next day (tried and true).

Serve as is, with a dusting of powdered sugar. If you must, serve with ice-cream. In my opinion, the simplicity of this dessert is what makes it amazing. Ice-cream is just over-the-top and better saved for brownies or pie. Sometimes very often less is more. Enjoy!

Oh! And please be nice and tell your guests that the cherries have pits in them. Orthodontics are expensive!

Whole Grain Golden Pumpkin Bars

Why am I craving Pumpkin in June, while my friends on the other Coast are eating ice-cream? Well, because it is June-uary in Seattle. There is something really wrong when you find yourself reaching for fleece and boots in June. That pedicure was such a waste! Those of us who have lived in the Pacific Northwest for a long time know better than to expect calendar-based weather. But c'mon. This is plain ridiculous. I am sick of it. Well, they say it is supposed to get much better this weekend....

I hope the weather cooperates because we are off to one of my favorite family getaways in the Northwest, Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. It probably helps that there is level sandy beach (an extreme rarity here) and that R took his first real steps on Cannon Beach. It was adorable and I have many many fond memories of that trip. A, who was just about 3, made tons of 'sushi' using all the slimy seaweed he could find (maybe that was his first love affair with Sushi).

I always like to have some home-baked treats in the car when we leave for a road trip. It is one of those quirky things I do. In addition to packing, arranging for Casey to be dropped off at doggie boarding, finishing up chores that need to get done, etc., I bake. J tells me I need to learn how to simplify my life, but what can I say? I like being busy; I hate to admit, but I think I almost thrive on it. So, my handy kitchen helpers, A and R and I baked last night. Since its fall-like weather around here, I was craving something warm, spicy, pumpkin-y. Pumpkin bars it was to be! (notice the kids' opinion was not solicited, otherwise we'd end up with brownies, again!).

My recipe uses a combination of whole grain flours. The original recipe calls for all whole wheat flour, but I find that whole wheat flout when used by itself adds a bitter-ish taste to the bars. Over the years, I have experimented a lot, and have found that I really like the combination of white whole wheat flour and another grain (spelt, oat, barley, kamut, etc) for baked treats.

These bars have a lovely burnished copper hue and are similar to cakey brownies in texture. I oh-so love chocolate, but these offer a nice change from the ubiquitous (yet ever-so delicious) chocolate treat. Not to mention the warm spices are perfect for June-uary. Enjoy!

Golden Pumpkin Bars

(Adapted from the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking book)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 tso vanilla extract

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 large egg

1 cup pumpkin puree (canned is fine)

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup whole grain spelt flour

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a 9 X 13 inch pan.

2. Melt the butter over low heat (or use low setting on microwave). Add the sugar and combine. Heat the mixture briefly until it is hot and starts to bubble. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and allow it to cool till you can comfortably test it with your finger.

3. Add the flours, salt, baking powder, and spices in a bowl. Mix well.

4. Add vanilla and egg to the butter-sugar mixture, beating until smooth. Stir in the pumpkin. Beat 20 seconds or so until fully incorporated.

5. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, cranberries and ther flour, mixing thoroughly. Spoon the batter into the greased pan.

6. Bake until a sharp knife inserted into the middle reveals just a few moist crumbs, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack 15-20 minutes.

7. Cut into 24 2-inch bars. Take the bars out of the pan and cool thoroughly on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Lunch box faves - Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I always have some baked goods in the freezer for quick lunches for the kids. Since these are occasionally meant to serve as the starch component of a lunch as opposed to a decadent treat, I tend to make these healthy, to the extent most good baked goods can be *healthy*. I typically add in some 'health-factor' by cutting down some of the sugar, trying to use whole grain flour instead of all-purpose, etc. You go too far and you end up with something 100% healthy, because its so nasty there is a 0% chance of it being consumed. You get my drift. What I strive for is a balance between decadent treats and everyday eats.

The baked goods stash in the freezer has been dwindling over the past few weeks, and I've just not gotten around to replacing it. I usually have a bunch of over-ripe bananas in the freezer waiting to be converted into scrumptious banana bread, but somehow, the family has been in a banana-binge phase, and I never seem to be able to keep bananas around long enough to get them bake-ready ripe. Every once in a way, I have managed to hoarde a banana till it at least gets to the spotty stage, but Dear hubby has been known to take these bananas too to work for a snack. His love for bananas knows no bounds....

Anyway, I finally managed to build up the banana stash and finally had all the software (pun intended) to bake banana bread yesterday. Kids wanted banana muffins instead of a loaf. No problem.

Banana - Chocolate Chip Muffins

Adapted from The King Arthur Whole Grain Baking book

Makes 12 regular muffins

1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs (I used jumbo)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Spray the liners evenly with cooking spray.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar in stand-mixer bowl. Add the bananas, sour cream, honey, vanilla and eggs. Beat until smooth. (Don't worry if the sour cream looks curdled).

3. Whisk together dry ingredients - flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add chocolate chips.

4. Gently add dry ingredients to the stand mixer. Mix gently until just combined.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 23 to 28 minutes.

6. Remove muffins from oven. Let rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

7. These can be stored for a day in an airtight container. For longer storage, wrap individually and freeze.

 

Did someone say Brunch? Huevos Rancheros a la yummy

Spent most of the day yesterday at the Northwest Folklife festival at the Seattle Center. Thank goodness we missed the shooting incident (we were waiting for the Northgate Bus Shuttle at the time the shooting chaos happened). I'm so glad the kids did not have to witness that.

Anyway, had plans for some good friends to come over for Brunch on Sunday. A few of the guests are vegetarian (eggs ok thankfully), so I decided on Huevos Rancheros. Nice, easy, filling, yummy, healthy, 100% perfect!

I saw this recipe a few years back in one of the Cooking Light issues, and it made it quite faithful to the recipe. It was very good, but I remember thinking that the idea was good, but it needed some doctoring. So here goes:

Huevos Rancheros with Zucchini and Bell Pepper

(Loosely adapted from Cooking Light Magazine)

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

4 medium zucchini, 1/4 inch dice

4 large cloves of garlic, chopped

2 cans diced tomatoes with green chili

1 can plain diced tomatoes

1 can red enchilada sauce

1 tsp sugar

Salt + Pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

Corn tortillas

Cilantro

Crema Agria (or sour cream will do)

Shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Queso Fresco

Vegetarian refried beans

Method:

1. Make a sofrito base. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy pan. Add onions, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic. Sweat but don't brown.

2. Add tomatoes and enchilada sauce. Bring to boil and simmer 10 minutes. Add sugar. Check salt abd add salt and pepper to taste. Add in zucchini. Cover and cook approx. 15 minutes. Zucchini should be tender but not mushy.

3. Huevos: Make 1 or 2 fried eggs per serving. I like my fried eggs a bit runny for huevos but some of our friends wanted theirs well done. I strongly recommend a bit runny.

4. Heat corn tortillas in microwave (in a tortilla steamer). Reheat the refried beans.

5. To Assemble: Stack 2 - 3 tortillas on a plate. Spread with ~ 3tbsp refried beans. Place fried eggs on top and spoon a few generous ladles of sauce on top. Garnish with cheeses, crema agria and cilantro. Enjoy!