Oatmeal Cherry Muffins

I am in love. Hello, scrumptious oat muffins! These are delectable, moist and lightly sweetened, with a delicious oat crumble topping. I adapted the recipe from Heidi at 101Cookbooks. I am once again guilty of adapting something before even trying the original, however I would recommend trying the basic version and coming up with your own adaptions! You'll have to excuse the way I switch around between ounces and grams. It works in my brain somehow. If you want volume measurements, just see the original recipe. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cherry Muffins

Changes from original: I altered the amounts to make exactly 1 dozen muffins (with only a little bit of leftover crumble), added cherries, and extracts. I didn't include "almond" in the title because all I did was add a hint to complement the cherries. If you want a more pronounced almond flavor, try adding finely chopped blanched almonds to the crumble topping. If you don't want to be left with only a tad extra crumble, then simply make the whole amount (double this), and then you'll have plenty to freeze for later use. :)

Crumble topping:

1.5 oz whole wheat pastry flour

0.75 oz cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)

1.25 oz brown sugar

1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt (if using table salt, you should use a scant 1/4 tsp)

1.25 oz unsalted butter, melted

Muffin batter:

67 grams rolled oats (not quick cooking)

67 grams unbleached all purpose flour

67 grams whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 tsp baking soda

scant 1/3 tsp fine grain sea salt

134 grams unsalted butter

47 grams brown sugar

8 oz (ounces!) plain yogurt - I accidentally measured this by weight, not fluid ounces, but it came out, so I wouldn't worry either way.

1 egg, whisked

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pitted sweet cherries, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin pan (no need for liners - mine popped out easily). Place racks in top third of oven.

Prep cherries.

Use a fork to combine the flour, oats, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter. Form into a patty, wrap, and freeze for about ten minutes.

In a large bowl combine the oats, flours, baking soda, and sea salt. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Whisk in the yogurt, and then the eggs and extracts. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir just until combined. Gently fold in cherries. Do not over mix.

Pour the batter into the muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full (tip: I find using my large cookie scoop is perfect for the job!). Take the crumble from the freezer, crumble it, and sprinkle on top of each muffin. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool just a minute or so, then turn out onto a cooling rack (Heidi says: important! And I agree. :) )

Yield: 1 dozen muffins

Zucchini bread using Amish Friendship Bread starter

I recently received my first Amish Friendship Bread starter. It's like a sourdough starter, except it's sweet, and the recipe traditionally handed out with it is really more for a cake than a bread. I've had the version that came with it and it's scrumptious (almond poppy seed), but I wanted to try something less sweet and rich and use up some ingredients that were sitting in the fridge. I discovered online a few different variations of the recipe, settled on one, and adapted it to my needs. The result? One of the best zucchini breads I've had. Whenever I've done the "use yogurt and less sugar and whole wheat flour" route in a quick bread, I've had mediocre results. But having a starter improves the flavor and adds moisture. So, I'd say it was a success!

Amish Friendship Zucchini Bread

A note on the starter: the instructions that came with the starter have you feeding it just before using it. I decided against this, as it seemed the starter would have maximum flavor without the feeding to dilute it (a suggested by other bloggers). One can just feed it afterwards, split, and share with others.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup stone ground whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1 tsp salt

1 cup AFB starter

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup 2% Greek yogurt

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cup shredded zucchini (or carrot for a carrot version)

1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Opt: Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 9x5 loaf pans (mine came out rather flat. Maybe put the whole batter into one 9x5, or make muffins)

2. Sift together dry ingredients.

3. In large mixing bowl combine starter, eggs, oil, yogurt, and vanilla. Beat for a minute or two to aerate. Add dry ingredients gradually and mix until just blended. Stir in shredded zucchini and nuts. Divide batter evenly between pans. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar to your liking (opt).

4. Bake 35 min or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

The ultimate chocolate peppermint cake

This was the most intense cake I've ever made. It was also one of the most delicious. Normally, I'm not a huge cake person, so I'm fairly selective with recipes I undertake. And usually my handy dandy husband helps (in this case, he was the awesome assembler). :)

I am also proud of this cake because, despite the many warnings and concerns among the reviewers on Epicurious.com, I felt like the whole thing was a great success. More on that later.

For now, pictures!!

First, the components:

1. Dark Chocolate Ganache (yes, that is a finger mark)

2. Peppermint Marshmallowy Frosting

3. White chocolate peppermint whipped cream

4. Devil's Food Cake

Second, the assembly:

The final delicious and gigantic product:

Red bell pepper panzanella

I just had the most delicious lunch. I mean, how could lunch made almost entirely of bread not be awesome? It's something I created out of my leftover focaccia bread. It uses pickled red onions, but if you haven't prepped that (or don't want to), cook some chopped onion with the red bell pepper and be sure to add a splash or two of red wine vinegar along with the olive oil.

Red bell pepper panzanella

1 red bell pepper, chopped

Zest of half a lemon

Rings of pickled red onion with a bit of the liquid (I eyeballed it)

Day old small loaf of focaccia bread, cut into bit sized chunks (about enough to fill a toaster oven tray)

Fresh basil, chopped (or slivered if you're feeling fancy)

Grated mozzarella cheese

Extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute the bell pepper until just done in a bit high heat oil of your choice. Turn off heat and stir in lemon zest and onions.

2. While bell pepper is cooking, toast the focaccia chunks in the toaster oven.

3. Toss together the bread, basil, mozzarella, a few splashes of extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper with the bell pepper mixture. Taste; adjust seasoning if necessary.

4. Eat with salad or something else "healthy" so that you don't feel too bad. ;)

Grains

As promised, I'm going to talk about grains. However, since there are already so many great resources out there, I will simply point you to them and share some favorite recipes!

First of all, grains don't have to be intimidating. Just take one you've never heard of, look up how to cook it (if you can make rice, you can cook grains), and enjoy! If you have a store nearby that sells food in bulk bins, even better! Just grab a trial amount so you don't waste your money. And for a hard to find grain, opt for an ethnic market rather than the "ethnic" section of the grocery store. Not only will you save money, you'll also have fun looking at all the foods you've never seen before, getting to ask the people who work or shop there what to do with them!

Now on to the info. Here is a handy description of various grains and what to do with them: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/a-few-favorite-grains-recipe.html

For a brief glossary, see here: http://www.foodsubs.com/FGGrains.html

For a very detailed description of each grain (or any food, for that matter), use http://www.whfoods.com/

Now on to some of my favorite recipes!

Brown Rice:

Plain BROWN RICE. Best brown rice method hands down. No more mushy or undercooked brown rice!

If you're wanting to try a new grain but aren't sure if you'll like it, try adding it to brown rice. Or try this recipe that uses five grains (or four or three, depending on what you have and/or like). I once made a large batch and froze the leftovers for later use. Boy did the leftovers come in handy for quick weeknight meals (stir fry, anyone?).

Quinoa:

My favorite grain is probably quinoa. Ah, quinoa. I've blogged about it before here. It's also delicious served with grilled zucchini and pork. My favorite seasoning for it has to be cumin. Also, I've recently discovered that I prefer a longer cooking time than what most packages indicate (25 minutes instead of 10 of 15). Beyond the usual applications, I absolutely love this creative and mouthwatering delicious Quinoa Skillet bread. If you try it, be warned that it comes out better when you measure by weight (ounces, grams) rather than volume (cups, pints).

Multiple grains:

If making bread is up your ally, I highly recommend Peter Reinhart's Multigrain Bread Extraordinare. An almost pompous sounding title, I know, but this loaf from his book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, is the best multigrain bread I've ever tasted. Really. It uses brown rice, oats, bran, and your choice of coarse corn meal, amaranth, millet, or quinoa. Google the name of the bread and you're sure to find a recipe (or get your hands on a copy of the fantastic resource that is the Baker's Apprentice).

Oats:

And finally, let me add something about oats. I have fallen in love with quick-cooking steel oats. I much prefer the texture to rolled oats. That's not to say that one couldn't enjoy both. If you want to try something new in the oat department, try steel cut, and preferably quick cooking since they take longer to cook than rolled oats. Here is a decadent way to use them: http://delicioushouse.blogspot.com/2010/01/toasted-maple-nut-steel-cut-irish.html

You can use any nuts you have on hand. I also like to add fresh or dried fruit, especially raisins, dried cranberries, apples, apricots, etc. Have fun mixing and matching nuts, fruits, sweeteners (honey, agave, maple syrup).

I'm back (with a late spring salad)

After many weeks of silence (and lack of inspiration at home), I have finally broken the silence (and the dry spell)! Last time we spoke, I just started a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I never did get back to you about my experience. Stay tuned!

This lovely in-between-spring-and-summer evening, I'd like to share my recent creation! Like I alluded to earlier, I have been a bit bored lately with my cooking. My remedy? Go to my favoriteblog and look up new ingredients! I decided to branch out with grains and vinegar. I will talk about grains more later.

Vinegar? Isn't that a little boring or basic? Perhaps, but it was severely underutilized in my kitchen! One day I realized I had a decent bottle of balsamic vinegar and Chinese cooking wine (which in my mind is pretty much like vinegar) sitting, just sitting there, in the pantry (next to my olive oil, no less). What a shame, I thought. So I just started adding it to things. First, the Chinese cooking wine went into stir-fried bok choy (thank you CSA for introducing me to bok choy!), and the balsamic into a vinaigrette for salad with chickpeas.

So the next time I went to Trader Joe's, I decided to investigate the vinegar section. Holy smokes, there are some delicious looking vinegars! I decided upon the orange muscat champagne vinegar. Once I opened the bottle, catching a sniff of its sweet scent, I knew was going to have fun. With this and my CSA basket in hand, I was inspired to make this beauty of a salad.

Late spring salad with orange-mint vinaigrette

3-4 cups washed and torn lettuce leaves (I mixed romaine, red leaf, and iceberg)

1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted

For the vinaigrette:

4 strawberries, sliced

1 small blood orange, peeled and pulled into segments

3 mint leaves, crushed and chopped

1 shallot, thinly sliced

a few splashes of orange champagne vinegar (or whatever you have that's similar)

a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

pinch salt and pepper

1. Prepare vinaigrette and let sit for at least 5-10 minutes.

2. Toss vinaigrette and toasted walnuts with salad and enjoy!

Notes: No blood orange? No problem. Any small, sweet orange or tangerine will do. Also, the shallot could just as well be an equivalent amount of red onion. I'm sure this could be adapted for other kinds of fruit and nuts depending on what you have on hand as well.

CSA Basket #1

I just joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for the first time. Full of excitement, I brought home my first basket today. Can I say wow? I'm a bit overwhelmed with produce now! Here's a list of what items were in it:

Rosemary

Kale (kale)

Butter lettuce

Broccoli (tiny)

Red romaine (huge)

Red lettuce

Parsley - flat leaf and curly

Swiss Chard (huge)

Carrots

Celery

Beets

Green onions

6 small russet potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes

2 meyer lemons

5 apples

1 grapefruit

2 huge avocados

11 oranges/tangerines

2 kiwis

I would like to do some cost comparison to the same quantities and quality of these items from the grocery store. I say quality because cost is not my reason for doing this. It's more about getting food that's fresh and supports local farmers. However, even good things shouldn't be done if you can't afford them (cough health care cough). I have a feeling that so far, though, it's going to come out about the same. In which case, CSA you are amazing!