Author: Dawn

Bunny Cupcakes

Published on by Dawn12 Comments

Bunny Cupcakes

What a week – I felt completely caught up after the long Thanksgiving weekend – and then something happened (work maybe?) and by Wednesday, everything had completely turned around.  I was back to being in the weeds, and this week, I couldn’t find my way out.  It was my younger daughter’s birthday on Wednesday – the big 7.  She had been looking forward to her birthday for months – I was almost worried it would be a let down when it finally came, but this year really took the cake, so to speak…

My mother and step-father flew in for her birthday, and it was a surprise for her.  They showed up at her classroom with donuts on Wednesday morning, and she was beside herself.  I saw a video my step-father took, and it was so adorable.  That night we had a nice family birthday dinner, Friday night we went out to dinner to celebrate her birthday, and then the big birthday party was on Saturday.  This was no ordinary party – this was a bunny birthday party – with live bunnies – 15 of them.  Yes, you are reading this correctly – there were 15 live bunnies in my house, and they were not in a cave.  Not only were there 15 bunnies, there were 14 little girls in my house, enjoying these little bunnies.  And while they were doing that, I was making these – the bunny cupcakes.

It was quite chaos in my house – but I just had to go with it.  It seriously took we all day today to recover from yesterday.  The party was a big hit though, and the girls loved the cupcakes.  Fortunately my mother made the fondant ears, and she found these adorable edible eyes – which helped me immensely.  I went with the tried and true Downy Yellow Cupcakes from the Cake Bible – and my favorite Marshmallow Frosting.  For the most part, the girls loved them – I did get one very noteworthy comment from one of her good friends, who reminded me that cupcakes don’t have a lot of nutritional value:  There is no protein or calcium in cupcakes – yes, this is from a 7-year old.  Next time, maybe I will go with some Meatloaf Cupcakes.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1 cup  milk
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 cups sifted cake  flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoon + teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons  unsalted butter (must be softened)
  • 1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips

Frosting

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 2 cusp sugar
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Decorations

  • 1 pound of white fondant
  • Tylose Powder (about 1 teaspoon)
  • Corn Syrup
  • pink sugar crystals
  • mini marshmallows
  • edible eyes (or you can use mini-chocolate chips)
  • pink M&Ms
  • pink hearts
  • thin soba noodles
  • pink food coloring

Preparation

Cupcakes – makes 24

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl lightly combine the yolks, 1/4 cup milk, and vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low-speed for  30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low-speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high-speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develop  the cake’s structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3  batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the  ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake tins lined with papers. Fill them about 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until a  tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on racks for 10 minutes.

Frosting

Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan.  Combine the egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, water, and cream of tartar in a large bowl.  Set the bowl over the simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

With an electric mixer on high-speed, beat the mixture, still over the simmering water, until thick and fluffy, about 7 minutes.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Serve this the day it is made as it becomes granular if it sits.

Makes about 6 cups – you will have extra.

Decorations

Add about 1 teaspoon of the Tylose Powder to the fondant, and knead well.  This will make the fondant harden.  You can test it by trying out a small piece to see if it starts to harden – depending on the humidity, you will need different amounts of powder.  Roll the fondant out so it is about 1/8 inch thick, and using a bunny cookie cutter, make bunny ears.  You should make sure the bottom comes to a v so it is easy to stick the ears in the cupcake.  Let the bunny ears lay on a wooden spoon handle, so the ears bend a little on the top.  Let them sit overnight to harden.

Take your finger, and dip it into some corn syrup just inside the ears, then sprinkle some pink sugar crystals inside.

Take a little bit of frosting and put a thin layer on top of the cupcakes.  Take about 6-7 mini-marshmallows and put them in the center of the cupcake – this is going to help the frosting mound up in the middle.  Then put frosting all around to cover the marshmallows.  At this point, you can take a butter knife, and put a slit into the cupcake where you would like the ears to go.  Stick the ears into the cupcake.  Place two eyes, the M&M nose and heart mouth on the cupcake.  Take a soba noodle and break it into 6 small equal pieces – use those for the whiskers.  I put a little bit of marshmallow frosting into a small bowl and mixed in some pink food coloring and piped a little bit next to the whiskers for the bunny cheeks.

For a printer friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Bunny Cupcakes

Mile-High Chocolate Pie

Published on by Dawn13 Comments

I basically broke all of the rules today.  There were so many, I am not sure where to start.  I am going to let you in on a few secrets…and I hope you don’t think poorly of me.  First of all, it was the end of Thanksgiving weekend – and tonight my daughter had her book club.  I really procrastinated badly with this month’s book – I started it last night at 8:30pm.  Good thing it was a quick read – and a really good book – so luckily I finished it easily.  I signed up to bring dessert – not really remembering that it was Thanksgiving weekend, but I knew I could rally.

This morning, I took out some recipes, and gave my daughter 4 options which to choose from.  She narrowed it down to two, then I chose the winner – a Mile-High Chocolate Pie.  The picture in Bon Appetit said it all – it looked amazing.  I read through the recipe, and realized it had to chill for 4 hours, so I could not do my usual and procrastinate baking – I had to get to work.  I decided to make my life just a little simpler – and buy a prepared pie crust (rule #1).  The last time I did that I swore I would never do it again.  And after that amazing pie crust on made on Thanksgiving – I was really surprised by this decision – but it was a desperate situation.  It was 11am, and we still hadn’t gone to the supermarket for the ingredients.  I decided to buy a different prepared crust at Whole Foods – and when I went to check out – I saw the checker looking strangely at the crust.  I told her that usually I make my own, but we were in a bit of a time crunch today, so I went with a prepared crust.  She was awesome – she told me she wouldn’t charge me for it – just in case it didn’t work out.  Wow.

We started baking at about 1:30pm – not too bad, but yes, cutting it very close.  In order to cut corners again, I decided to go with semi-sweet chocolate chips, instead of using good chocolate and chopping it up (rule #2).  Bad decision.  The melted chocolate was a mess, and it never actually melted, it just got gritty  – I had to throw it away and go with the good chocolate.  Much better – so please, use good chocolate if you make this – it makes all the difference.  Also – the egg white mixture never really tripled in size – but that made no difference what-so-ever.  There was so much filling, this would have been called a Fourteener Chocolate Pie, had I not decided to stop mounding (rule #3), and fill some ramekins with the extra chocolate mixture.

The pie came out perfect – it looked beautiful, it had just enough time to chill – and it tasted amazing.  In fact – it was so good – that I couldn’t wait to post it (rule #4).  Normally I cannot get my act together to bake, photograph, write and post – all in the same day.  In fact – the Spinach Puffs post was the first time I had done that in months – maybe even years – and it was because I took the day off from work.  For those of you that actually think I can come home from working 10 hours in the office, cook a delicious meal for my family – take pictures and then write something about what I made – all in the same day – that is crazy talk.  I really would be superwoman.  But today – I did it – I had to, I couldn’t wait to share this pie – good thing it was a Sunday after having 4 other days off.  So yes, I broke a lot of rules today – but I think these types of rules are meant to be broken.  Now excuse me while I run to the kitchen and have another bite of pie – yes, I can do that when I post the same day I bake…

Ingredients

  • 1  pie crust, home made or store-bought
  • 4  large egg whites
  • 3/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp. sugar
  • 10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 71% cacao), chopped, plus more shaved with a vegetable peeler for garnish
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 cups heavy cream, divided
  • 1 cup coarsely crushed chocolate wafer cookies (such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers), divided
  • 1/2 cup crème fraîche
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Line pie dish with crust; crimp edges  decoratively. Fully bake pie crust according to instructions in recipe or on  box. Let cool completely.

Whisk egg whites and sugar in a medium heatproof bowl set over  a medium saucepan of simmering water until sugar dissolves and egg whites are  warm but not hot, 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat  on medium-high speed until cool, tripled in volume, and stiff peaks form (the  tips of the peaks won’t fall over when beaters are lifted from bowl and turned  upright), about 6 minutes.

Stir chopped chocolate and butter in a large bowl set over  same saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth, 4–5 minutes; set  aside.

Beat 2 cups cream in another medium bowl until medium peaks  form (cream should be soft and pillowy), 5-6 minutes.

Gently fold egg whites into warm chocolate mixture until fully  incorporated (work quickly to prevent chocolate from turning gritty). Gently  fold in whipped cream just until no white streaks remain; do not overmix or  mixture will deflate. Spoon ½ cup chocolate mousse into bottom of prepared pie  crust; spread evenly over bottom of crust. Sprinkle 3/4 cup plus  2 Tbsp.  crushed chocolate wafers over mousse. Top with remaining mousse, mounding in the  center to create a dome. (The point is to add height, not to spread out evenly  to edges.) Chill pie.

Beat remaining 2 cups cream, crème fraîche, and salt until  medium-stiff peaks form (when the beaters are lifted from the cream, the peaks  will hold their shape but the tips will fall over). Top chocolate mousse with  whipped-cream mixture, following the same rounded dome shape. Chill pie for at  least 4 hours or, covered, for up to 3 days. (It will slice best if chilled  overnight, allowing mousse to set properly.)

Garnish pie with 2 Tbsp. chocolate wafers and chocolate  shavings. Slice pie using a clean, dry knife; wipe between slices to ensure  clean, elegant pieces.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Mile-High Chocolate Pie

Spinach Puffs

Published on by Dawn13 Comments

There are so many things to be thankful for right now – although my family and friends definitely top the list – good food is up there as well, and of course my job and my wonderful hobby, my blog.  I also want to thank my readers for being there and encouraging me to keep going.  When it is late and I am tired, and all I want to do is go to bed, it actually helps knowing that if I spend the time to post something, there is at least someone out there reading.

This year for Thanksgiving, I am redefining simplicity.  We are not hosting a bunch of people, so we are keeping it simple.  Turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roasted green beans and delicate squash.  It wasn’t until today when I realized that I didn’t think about appetizers.  Fortunately, I have plenty of this and that in the pantry that will go perfectly with cocktails.  So, even though tomorrow should be simple, I decided that I couldn’t let the weekend go without getting trying out these Spinach Puffs I read in Bon Appetit.  I made them to go with some soup I made tonight – which was delicious (more on that in another post) – and they were a huge hit.  They were super simple, looked beautiful, and tasted amazing.  I could have eaten the spinach filling by itself – but surrounded by puffed pastry – what could be better?  They would make a great last-minute appetizer for any occasion.

I hope you are all redefining Thanksgiving in your own way – whatever that may be.  And, if you are reading this and just realized that you have no idea what you are making for your appetizer – you can thank me.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ingredients

  • 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped  spinach, thawed
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 1 tablespoon olive  oil
  • 1 teaspoon chopped  dill
  • 1 teaspoon minced  garlic
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground  black pepper
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a  17.3-ounce package), thawed, rolled out to a 12-inch square, kept chilled

Preparation

Using your hands, squeeze spinach until dry, forcing out as  much water as possible (too much water will make for a soggy filling; you should  have about 2/3 cup well-drained spinach). Mix spinach and next 5 ingredients in  a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, beat 1 egg  to blend; fold into spinach mixture.

Cut puff pastry into 3 equal strips. Reserve 1 strip for  another use. Cut each remaining strip into 3 squares for a total of 6. Place a  square in each muffin cup, pressing into bottom and up sides and leaving corners  pointing up. Divide filling among cups. Fold pastry over filling, pressing  corners together to meet in center.

DO AHEAD Spinach puffs  can be assembled 3 hours ahead. Cover puffs and chill.

Preheat oven to 400°.  Beat remaining egg to blend in a small  bowl. Brush pastry with egg wash (this will give the pastry a nice sheen). Bake  until pastry is golden brown and puffed, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire  rack; let puffs cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run a sharp paring knife around pan  edges to loosen;  turn out puffs onto rack to cool slightly before serving.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Spinach Puffs

Pizza with Cherry Tomatoes, Proscuitto and Basil

Published on by Dawn5 Comments

I know this is not a typical pre-Thanksgiving post – but it is around 4:00pm here, and it is almost dark.  It has been raining for most of the day, and the forecast says rain for the next ten days.  Secretly, this is my favorite time of year, when all you want to do is stay inside and bake – but sometimes you need to make something that just gets you into a different mindset – something fun that the entire family craves.  Pizza.

My husband and I are pizza snobs.  I became one when I started dating him, over 20 years ago.  We spent a lot of time in New York City then, and pizza was affordable.  Our favorite place to go with John’s Pizza on Bleecker Street.  It is brick oven pizza.  The crust is so thin that it gets completely crisp on the bottom – there is no soggy dough in this place.  I love the toppings, and the fresh mozzarella cheese.  In fact, we still try to go there every summer when we visit.  Last summer my father convinced us to try a different place – it was August – it was hot – and it was more convenient for us to go to this new place than head all the way downtown to go to John’s.  Even though this new place was better than any pizza we can find in Seattle – it was not John’s.

We have been talking for years about how we can recreate John’s pizza at home – but until we got the Big Green Egg, it was a fantasy.  We put off pizza for quite a while – waiting for just the time – but the time had come.  We had mastered so many other things on the Egg, it was time attempt pizza.  At first I was all set to make my own dough – but we decided that if it was a big failure, that would just add salt to the wound – so I settled on using Trader Joe’s dough.  If the pizza came out good using TJ’s, just imagine what it would be like with homemade dough.  Well – we were jumping up and down – this pizza was the best we had ever made.  The bottom was crispy and delicious, and the bubbles in the crust, just made us want to cry.  It was the brick oven pizza we dreamed about.  Now I just need to get a new pizza stone (mine wasn’t made to withstand temperatures as high as 600 degrees), and make my own dough – and people will start lining up in front of our house.  Well – maybe if it stops raining.

Ingredients

  • Pizza dough (I used Trader Joes)
  • Olive Oil
  • Garlic
  • Fresh Mozzarella Cheese (not pre-shredded)
  • Assorted Cherry Tomatoes
  • Prosciutto, thinly sliced
  • Basil

Preparation

Prepare your Big Green Egg by preheating it to around 600 degrees – with a place setter for indirect cooking.  If you do not have an Egg, your pizza will not be as crisp on the bottom, but preheat your oven to 500 degrees.  You must use a pizza stone for this, and it helps to have a holder and a wooden pizza peel as well.  Place the pizza stone on top of the place setter, so it is nice and hot.

Roll your dough out to whatever size pizza you would like to make.  We made 4 small pizzas with the dough.  Lightly dust the pizza peel with cornmeal, and place the rolled dough circle on the peel.  Take some olive oil and minced garlic, and put into a bowl.  Brush your pizza dough with the olive oil garlic mixture.  Slice some mozzarella cheese and place on top of the dough.  Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, and sprinkle around.  Do the same with some cut up prosciutto and fresh basil leaves.

Using the pizza peel, slide the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone.  Cook for 5 minutes or until the dough is lightly brown and crisp.  Repeat for the remaining dough disks.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Pizza with Cherry Tomatoes, Prosciutto and Basil

Mormon Molasses Spice Cookies

Published on by Dawn1 Comment

My older daughter is growing up before my eyes – and it is amazing to watch.  I am not in the teenage years yet, when things might get a bit hairy – now it is just plain innocent fun.  The other week she came home and said that they were having a party in her class.  Normally, that is then followed by a barrage of emails first from the room mother asking for a bunch of supplies/food, and then all the parents replying all with what they can commit to bringing.  I love those emails.

This was different – and I could tell that the times were changing.  She told me that she signed up to bring cookies to the party, and that she would make them by herself.  Wow!!  So, she spent a lot of time combing through my cookbooks and recipe files, looking for the perfect recipe.  She didn’t want anything frosted, because someone else was bringing those – but something that fit the season.  I suggested that she find some spice cookies, and she loved that idea.  She found a rather interesting looking recipe in the “got milk?  the cookie book” by Peggy Cullen.  I have had this cookbook forever – in fact, it might even be one of my first cookie books.  I think I chose it because it had nice pictures.

She decided she would make the dough on Sunday and bake the cookies on Tuesday night, so they would be fresh for the party on Wednesday.  I started to help her, and she told me she wanted to do it herself.  She told me to go in the other room, and she would call me if she needed help.  At that point, I actually had to leave and get my haircut – so I called my mother and asked her to call and check in on her to see if she had questions.  Things went splendidly.  The cookies were fantastic – especially right out of the oven.  Tons of flavor, and nice and chewy.  I think she is almost ready for her own blog!

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut in pieces
  • 1/4 cup dark unsulphered molasses
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies
  • 2 teaspoons of baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Remove from the heat, and stir in the molasses and vanilla.  Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour with 1 cup of the sugar, the baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.  Whisk to combine.

Add the beaten egg to the cooled butter mixture and mix well with a fork.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate until firm enough to form ball, about 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375°F.

Place remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl.  Working with 1 Tbsp of dough each time, roll dough into 1-inch balls.  Roll balls in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.

Bake until the outer edges of the cookies begin to set and centers are soft and puffy, about 12 to 15 minutes.  Cool cookies on sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks.  Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Mormon Molasses Spice Cookies

Pumpkin Bread

Published on by Dawn3 Comments

I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is just a little more than a week away.  Where did fall go?  I wish it would stick around a little while longer.  In fact, I am usually the first person to take the decorations down after a holiday – but would you believe that the Halloween decorations are still up in my house?  I am not sure what is going on.  Maybe I am just in denial – wishing it would last.

The other week my older daughter reminded me that I hadn’t made any Pumpkin Bread yet – and what would fall be without Pumpkin Bread?  So I was trying to decide if I just go to my mother’s recipe (which is amazing by the way), the recipe I tried last year from the Macrina Bakery (which was also amazing), or if I could possibly find this recipe in Cook’s Illustrated to be better.  Sometimes they really know what they are talking about, and other times, it is a complete failure.  Well, I figured I had to test it and see.

My older daughter is getting more and more comfortable in the kitchen – in fact, she is really such a pleasure to cook with.  She is up for doing anything – and lately, she has insisted that I just give her projects and let her try on her own.  This one I decided would be a joint effort – so I gave her the struesel topping to make first, while I started on the bread.  Unfortunately I should have given her a little more instruction, so the topping was too soft when I put it on top – so it basically melted into the bread.  It was a great addition to this recipe though, it was actually my favorite part.  The bread was pretty good, but not as good as my mother’s recipe.  I thought it needed more oil, although it did stay moist for days.  The only real issue I had with this bread was that the cream cheese never really completely mixed it, and you can see little spots on the bread – although this didn’t impact the flavor at all.

So – give it a try, and let me know what you think – or if your cream cheese blended nicely.  Maybe it was just me?  And now – with this part of fall officially completed – I am off to finally take down the Halloween decorations…onto Thanksgiving!

Ingredients

Topping

  • 5 tablespoons packed (2 1/4 ounces) light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Bread

  • 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 15 ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 12 pieces
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preparation

Topping

Using finger, mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined and topping resembles wet sand; set aside.

Bread

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans.  Whisk flour, baking powder, and baking soda together in a bowl.

Combine pumpkin puree, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cook mixture, stirring constantly, until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 6 to 8 minutes.  Remove pot from the heat; stir in pranulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and cream cheese until combined.  Let mixture stand for 5 minutes.  Whisk until no visible pieces of cream cheese remain and mixture is homogeneous.

Whisk together eggs and buttermilk.  Add egg mixture to pumpkin mixture and whisk to combine.  Fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until combined (some small lumps of flour are OK).  Scrap batter into prepared pans.  Sprinkle topping evenly over top of each loaf.  Bake until skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes.  Let breads cool in pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes.  Remove breads from pans and let cool for at least 1 1/2 hours.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Pumpkin Bread

Crunchy Tandoori Chickpeas

Published on by Dawn7 Comments

Almost 3 1/2 years ago, my neighbor sent me a link to one of our favorite Passover treats.  This was my first look at a real food blog – not just a blog, but exactly what I had been thinking about doing.  I was impressed – but at the same time – I was motivated.  I knew I could do this myself – and after months of getting serious – I did it.  And that started First Look, Then Cook.  It has been a really fun ride – and don’t worry, it is not over yet.

I have written about my friend’s Cookbook Store before – Book Larder.  It is such a magical place – I could spend months in there pouring over the books.  She has some amazing events – but sometimes life gets a little too hectic and I miss a really important one.  That is exactly what happened this week.  Smitten Kitchen was coming to promote her new cookbook, and it completely flew by me.  Luckily for me, Lara needed some help – it was going to be the biggest cookbook event she has ever held at the store.  Boy was she right – the line to sign cookbooks circled around the block – Deb has quite a fan base, and it was so much fun to be a part of it all.  I was so impressed with Lara’s organization of the event though – people even thanked her afterwards and told her what a great experience it was – for people who waited in line for over an hour, that is quite a compliment.  It’s amazing what some cookies and coffee can do – and it didn’t hurt that the rain stayed away.  Deb was great last night – she signed every last book, after connecting with each and every person in line.  It was an excellent evening.

Deb explained last night that she enjoys making food that everyone can make, and with her tiny NYC kitchen, she has to control the number of bowls she uses.  This is a perfectly simple recipe, that anyone can make – and it is perfect for fall.  This recipe (which I adapted below) was published in Cooking Light – in their crunchy article.  That is exactly why I love these – I could eat these over potato chips any day of the week.  So here’s to simplicity – oh, and organization.  The combination of the two, made for a very good week.

Ingredients

  • 2  (15 1/2-ounce) cans organic chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon tandoori spice
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1  garlic clove, minced

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300°.

Wrap chickpeas in a towel; lightly roll to loosen skins. Discard skins. Combine chickpeas and remaining ingredients. Arrange on a baking sheet. Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Crunchy Tandoori Chickpeas

Mulled Cider Jelly

Published on by Dawn11 Comments

My husband grew up on apple juice.  When we first started living together, he still loved his apple juice.  I was not brought up with juice, and I just couldn’t get my arms around this one.  In fact, when his mother comes to visit – she still drinks her cup of apple juice in the morning.  Slowly he stopped drinking it – and he actually supported me in a pretty much a non-juice household with the kids.  I just feel that if you are going to get your fruit intake, it might as well be from real fruit (this is from the non-fruit eater…so I should really talk…one of the joys of motherhood, making up the rules) and not from juice.

I started giving the kids juice in their lunch, because it takes too much time to stand in line and buy milk – they only have 15-20 minutes to eat their lunch, and semi-cold milk in a lunch box is really not good.  I remember one day the girls came home – both of them, and told me that they hated apple juice.  I was kind of shocked.  Because they didn’t have juice growing up – when they would be at birthday parties – they would drink anything that remotely resembled juice, like it was going out of style.  Needless to say, I stopped putting apple juice in their lunches.  They both take water bottles to school – and sometimes would just rather just have water anyway.

Even though I am not a juice fan, I put cider in a completely different category.  I love a good hot apple cider drink – with all those spices and complex flavors.  It is the true sign of fall.  I saw this recipe in the Food in Jars cookbook – and couldn’t wait for fall to come.  I went to the farmer’s market to buy the apple cider from the best apple stand at the market.  It came in this beautiful glass bottle – and it was amazing.  I knew this was going to make incredible jelly.  I was a little nervous at first, because it was my first attempt by myself to make jelly – and I overcooked my first batch.  It was still edible, but it got a little more firm than it was supposed to.  The next batch though, I watched the thermometer like a hawk, did the plate test – and it came out perfectly.  The girls LOVE this jelly – even with peanut butter.  It is definitely the best jelly I have ever made…oh right, it is the only jelly I have made.  So maybe I didn’t bring my kids up on apple juice, but now they are being brought up with mulled cider jelly – now maybe I can be in the running for the best mom ever, instead of the mom that deprived her kids of juice.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups of sugar
  • 1 (1.75 ounce/50 g packet) powdered pectin
  • 4 cups fresh pressed apple cider
  • zest of 1 orange
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Preparation

Fill your canning pot with water and begin to bring it to temperature. Wash your jars and rings in warm soapy water and set aside. Put your lids in a small pot of water and heat (but do not boil) in order to soften the sealing compound.

Measure the sugar into a blow. Whisk the powdered pectin into the sugar to blend.  In a large, nonreactive pot, combine the apple cider and the pectin-spiked sugar.  Add the orange zest and spices.  Bring to a boil and cook over high heat for 15-25 minutes, stirring frequently, until the volume in the pot is greatly reduced.  While you continue to stir, clip a candy thermometer to the pot and watch until the pot reaches 220 degrees F.  There will be a great deal of foaming and bubbling before it reaches this point.  It should look thick and syrupy and the bubbles should look glossy.

Test the set of the jelly using the saucer test (place a saucer in the freezer when you start – when you think the jam is done, place a drop on the plate and return to the freezer for 1-2 minutes, it should wrinkle when you push on it).  If it doesn’t pass, return the pot to the heat and cook for an additional 5 minutes before repeating the test.  When the jelly has reached the desired consistency, turn off the heat and fill the jars. Wipe rims and apply lids. Screw on the bands and lower into the water. Process in the hot water bath 10 minutes. When time is up, remove from water and cool on the counter. When the jars are cooled, check the seal by pressing on the top of the jar. If there’s no movement, the jar has sealed. Store up to one year in a cool, dark place.

Makes 4 pints (yield varies depending on width of pot, cooking length and juiciness of fruit).

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Mulled Cider Jelly

Persian Rice

Published on by Dawn9 Comments

I am having one of those weeks – I call them, “I have fallen and I can’t catch up” weeks.  I come home everyday with my inbox completely full of email, the girls asking a million questions, and I can’t even think about what to make for dinner.  Oh, and throw Halloween into the mix – and things have really just been turned upside down.

I really can’t complain though, not after seeing the pictures of the devastation that occurred this week from Hurricane Sandy.  My parents live in New London, CT – and I have been going there all my life.  The seawall that I have walked on thousands of times has crumbled – and the debris on the streets was quite a sight – a toilet seat, a refrigerator?  Probably from one of the beach clubs that got washed away.  Very sad.  Thank goodness they were safe, as was their home.  It is going to be a long time though before the neighborhood gets back to normal.

Even though we didn’t have a hurricane, the rain here has been something else.  We had our 60+ days of sun, and the rain came pouring back into our lives.  This post brings me back to summer.  My family loves rice – and for the most part I buy it frozen and warm it in the microwave.  I saw this recipe in Cooking Light though, and had to indulge.  This was delicious – crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside – with a really nice tangy taste from the yogurt.  Everyone loved it, and it was the perfect side to go with our summer vegetables from the garden.  Goodbye summer, see you next year.  And to all of you on the east coast – I hope you survived the storm ok.  I hope things can go back to normal soon.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups water
  • 1 cup long-grain basmati rice
  • 1/2 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons canola oil

Preparation

Place 4 cups water in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Add rice; cook for 10 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water; drain.

Combine yogurt, salt, and saffron in a medium bowl. Add rice to yogurt mixture, stirring well.

Melt butter in a medium nonstick sauté pan over medium heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add rice mixture to pan, lightly packing rice down. Wrap a clean, dry dish towel around lid to pan, tying it at the handle; place prepared lid on pan. Cook rice, covered, over medium heat 20 minutes (do not stir or uncover). Reduce temperature to medium-low; cook an additional 20 minutes or until rice is tender on top and a golden crust forms on bottom.

Loosen the rice crust with a rubber spatula around the edges. Place a plate over the top of pan, and invert the rice onto plate, browned side up. Cut into 6 wedges, and serve immediately.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Persian Rice

Pear Butter

Published on by Dawn3 Comments

Fall fruit is here, and I am just LOVING it!!  But, there is actually something else that I am loving right now…and it doesn’t have anything to do with food – although I am using it to post this entry right now.  It is my new Surface.  As you know, I try to keep my blogging life separate from my work life, but occasionally the paths do cross.  Aside from my family and food – I have another passion – it is my work.

When I graduated from High School, my father told me he would buy me a computer for my graduation gift.  This was 1987.  This was long before the internet, and before there was a computer in every home and on every desk.  This was quite a gift.  At this time, most people my age were going for the Macs – they were cute, a nice rectangular shape – and they were starting to pop up everywhere.  I didn’t want a Mac though – I wanted a PC.  I read about Windows, and Microsoft’s vision for computing – and I was sold.  I loved my computer – and if I wasn’t so focused on majoring in mathematics, I probably would have switched to computer science – instead I took a few classes as electives.  When it was time for me to start thinking about what I was going to be when I grew up – I decided I wanted to work for Microsoft.  I went to the library to look up where Microsoft was located, and it was in Redmond, Washington.  Well – at that point – living my entire life on the east coast, I didn’t think I would ever visit Washington, let alone live there.  So I decided that becoming an Actuary would be more realistic.

At first I liked my job – but it soon became boring.  I couldn’t imagine spending my life calculating the ROI on insurance products.  The only thing that got me excited was being able to get into the actuarial software and program my own solutions.  I loved Microsoft Excel – when I wasn’t programming, I would create elaborate spreadsheets to calculate premiums using formulas in Excel.  I remember staring at my computer one day wishing I worked somewhere that produced a tangible product – like Microsoft.  Everyone used it – Windows was popping up everywhere as PCs became more and more mainstream.  I knew what I had to do – I just had to figure out how I was going to do it.

In 1996 my husband and I were deciding where to move next – he had to do his post-doctoral work, and we had narrowed it down to two cities – Seattle and Boston.  Secretly I wanted to move to Seattle so I could work for Microsoft – but I sent them my resume, and didn’t hear back.  I had a job offer with an insurance company, so I resigned to continuing my actuarial work.  That only lasted 18 more months, before the opportunity fell into my lap to go work for Microsoft.  They were looking for accountants, and I convinced them that I was good enough with numbers that I could figure it out.  Ok, so I had never taken an accounting class, but I could learn quickly – and I did.  It was amazing – my job was exciting, and the career opportunities were endless.  I switched jobs every year and a half for the first 5 years, and loved every minute of each of them.  15 years later, I am still at Microsoft, and as passionate as ever about our products.  I know we are the underdog now.  I know we are considered old and stodgy – but I believe in what we can do – and that things will turn around.  The last few years have been tough – it has been hard to watch (some of) my family turn and support our competitors.  I take it personally.  I have put my heart and soul into this company.  Well – with Windows 8 and Surface, I believe we have a new opportunity.  I am extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish, and I hope the world will give us another chance.

I had to find something really special to post using my new Surface, and this is just about as good as it gets.  The bonus is it makes your entire house smell like fall.  I think I am going to be making this Pear Butter every weekend until the Pears are gone, yes, it is that good.  My husband is completely addicted, and the girls eat this with a spoon.  It is like a very thick applesauce, but so much better.  It spreads so nicely and is perfect on an English muffin – or just spread on more fruit.  Thanks Food in Jars for yet another amazing recipe!  Now I have to go get myself another spoon of this stuff, while I play with my Surface some more…oh, and did I tell you about the touch keyboard??  Magical…

Ingredients

  • 10 cups cored and chopped pears (about 5 pounds)
  • 2 to 3 cups of sugar, or as needed
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation

Place the pears in a 4-quart slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 1 hour.  If you have an older slow cooker, they cook cooler, so you may need to cook on high.

Remove the lid and give the pears a stir.  From this point forward, you will want to keep the lid slightly cracked.  I have found that propping it open with a wooden spoon or chopstick gives just enough room for the evaporating steam to escape.

Continue to cook the pears down for an additional 5 to 7 hours, checking every hour and stirring.  After it has cooked for 4 hours, blend the butter for a smoother texture.  For a chunkier consistency, use a potato masher to help break down the pears.

In the final hour of cooking, taste the pears and add 2 to 3 cups of sugar.  Use your judgment and taste buds to determine the correct sugar level.  Add the lemon zest and juice and the spices and stir to combine.

If you need to speed up the process of cooking the pears down, remove the lid and turn the slow cooker to high.  Stay close when it’s on high and stir often.

When the butter is nearing completion, fill your canning pot with water and begin to bring it to temperature. Wash your jars and rings in warm soapy water and set aside. Put your lids in a small pot of water and heat (but do not boil) in order to soften the sealing compound.

When it has reached a consistency that is thick and spreadable, ladle the butter into the prepared jars. Wipe rims and apply lids. Screw on the bands and lower into the water. Process in the hot water bath 15 minutes. When time is up, remove from water and cool on the counter. When the jars are cooled, check the seal by pressing on the top of the jar. If there’s no movement, the jar has sealed. Store up to one year in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months

Makes 3 pints (yield varies depending on width of pot, cooking length and juiciness of fruit).

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Pear Butter