carrot-applesauce bran muffins

wherein i continue my search for the perfect bran muffin.

the last one wasn’t bad – in fact, it was pretty good! – but as they say, if it isn’t perfect, make it better. (also, bran doesn’t come in small containers, so i have more than a little left over…)

carrot-applesauce bran muffins

1 cup wheat bran
1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup milk
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup raisins

preheat your oven to 425 degrees and either spray or line a muffin tin with papers.

mix the dry ingredients in one bowl (bran, flour, sugar, baking powder, spices, salt)

then, mix your wet ingredients (molasses, milk, egg whites, vegetable oil and applesauce) in another bowl

in a third bowl, prepare your mix-ins (carrots and raisins). i thought for some reason it would be a good idea – or rather, a thrifty idea – to buy mini carrots so i could take the leftovers to work with my lunches. ever tried grating half a cup of mini carrots? yeah, don’t.

mix your wet and dry ingredients together gently and fold in the carrots/raisins. remember not to overwork the batter!

divide into muffin tins and bake for 15-17 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the top comes out clean.

review: much lighter and more moist than the first bran muffin recipe i tried – and really quite tasty (plus i felt so healthy getting my fruits and veggies and fiber all in one place) – but these still don’t quite have the deep, dark, molasses-y flavor i’m looking for. adding more molasses or using dark bown sugar (instead of light brown sugar) might help.

and so, the search continues. got any suggestions?

raisin bran muffins

i love a good raisin bran muffin… and how great do these look?!

here’s my pitch: wheat bran is high in fiber, low in fat, and sodium- and cholesterol-free. a perfect, healthy way to start your morning. these are also quick and easy to make – 30 minutes from start to finish. they keep well for about a week in a tin on the counter or for months in the freezer. so why not make a batch on sunday to enjoy all week?

raisin bran muffins
recipe comes from the back of the kretschmer toasted wheat bran jar

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (i used 1 cup regular and 1/4 cup whole wheat)
1 cup wheat bran (available at most groceries stores. comes in a large jar but keep forever in the fridge)
1/4 sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 vegetable oil
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
3/4 cup raisins (optional, i guess)

mix all your dry ingredients in one bowl

and your wet ingredients in another

fold the wet into the dry until just combined. remember, over-mixing means tough muffins. fold in raisins.

i use a 1/3 measuring cup to spoon the batter into paper-lined muffin tins. (if you don’t have liners, spray pan with something nonstick first.)

to make them more fancy and professional looking, i like to sprinkle a few oats on top of each.

bake for 20-22 minutes at 400 degrees, until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

vegetarian curry

failures in my kitchen come in all kinds. this time, it was a technical failure. my camera, you see, apparently needs to be charged every now and then. needy gadget… so i go dark in the middle of the recipe, but used that time to power it up so i could at least take an “after” picture.

i saw this vegetarian curry on america’s test kitchen (my new absolute favorite show on tv) and really wanted to try it, since i’m all about indian food at the moment. (as you know, i also got a great-looking indian cookbook for christmas. thanks, g’ma!)

it was a titch more complicated than they made it look on tv (turns out i also don’t have a prep kitchen getting all the ingredients ready to dump in the pot like they do!), but all in all, a very tasty recipe that is whetting my appetite for more indian food at home!

serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 medium onions chopped fine (about 2 cups)
12 ounces red bliss potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely grated (or minced) fresh ginger
1 – 1 1/2 serrano chiles, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 medium head cauliflower , trimmed, cored, and cut into 1-inch florets (about 4 cups)
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 1/4 cups water
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
salt
8 ounces frozen peas (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup heavy cream or coconut milk

1. toast curry powder and garam masala in small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until spices darken slightly and become fragrant, about 1 minute. remove spices from skillet and
set aside.

2. heat 3 tablespoons oil in large dutch oven (i just used a big pot) over medium-high heat until shimmering. add onions and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized and potatoes are golden brown on edges, about 10 minutes. (reduce heat to medium if onions darken too quickly.)

3. reduce heat to medium. clear center of pan and add remaining tablespoon oil, garlic, ginger, chile, and tomato paste.

cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. add toasted spices and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute longer. add cauliflower and cook, stirring constantly, until spices coat florets, about 2 minutes longer.

4. add tomatoes, water, chickpeas, and 1 teaspoon salt; increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to boil, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. cover and reduce heat to medium. simmer briskly, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. stir in peas and cream or coconut milk; continue to cook until heated through, about 2 minutes longer. adjust seasoning with salt and serve immediately.

german christmas stollen

[pronounce it “SHTOE-len”]

now, if i were at all organized or a legitimate, thoughtful food blogger, i would have baked this traditional christmas morning bread weeks before christmas and provided you all with the recipe so you could make it yourself for the day-of.

sorry, bookmark me ’til next year.

because how good does that look?!

we had a version of this bread every christmas i can remember growing up, that we ate while opening presents. i made a few changes this first year i baked it myself, and he and i were both very pleased with the result.

the recipe may look long, but don’t let it dissuade you.

start by mixing 1 1/4 cups (or 1 1/2  cups if you won’t be using nuts later) of mixed, chopped dried fruit – i used apricots, currants, cranberries and dates – with 1/4 cup of booze – i used half bourbon, half cointreau – and letting it sit and stew. oh! i also tossed in some orange peel. if you’re short on time, microwave the mixture for a few seconds.

in a separate bowl, mix 1/4 milk that you scalded (brought just to the edge of a boil) and cooled, with one packet of yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar.

let it sit for 10 minutes.

next, add another 1/2 cup of the scalded (and cooled) milk, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, the liquid drained off the dried fruit, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and one cup of flour (i used white wheat).

mix well and let rise in a warm spot (like the oven with the oven light on) for one hour.

during this waiting period, i thought those boozey orange rinds looked appetizing, so i may have tossed them into a glass with bourbon, a little powdered sugar and some not water. unfortunate to let boozey rinds go to waste…

aaannnyyywho… when the first rising is done (doubled in size), add 1 beaten egg, 1 cup flour (white wheat again) and six tablespoons melted butter.

kneed in enough flour to make the dough smooth and elastic.

mix the fruit (and 1/2 cup chopped nuts if you’d like) with two tablespoons of flour.

halve the dough and flatten each half into a rectangle. press half the fruit (nuts) into each rectangle.

fold and flatten and fold and flatten, until the fruit is mixed throughout the dough.

then let it rise a second time in a warm place until it has again doubled in size – 2 to 3 hours.

(it’s good to note here that while you are going for doubled in size, wheat flour – even white wheat – doesn’t rise quite as much as regular white. i was worried the bread would turn out way too heavy or dense, but in fact, it was airy enough and i was pleased with the result.)

next, shape each piece of dough into a 5 by 9 inch rectangle.

brush with a little melted butter and dust with a sugar/cinnamon mix.

roll your dough up to make a cinnamon-sugar swirl inside the loaf and let the loaves rise for one more hour.

you are supposed to brush the top of the dough with melted butter before you bake it, but i skipped that step and actually liked the results better.

bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

golden brown!

instead of the traditional powdered sugar topping, i made a glaze for each with a little confectioners sugar, some lemon zest and lemon juice.

use just enough lemon juice to get it to a loose but not too runny consistency.

enjoy! we had ours with hot chocolate and presents.

[mama made one this year, too.]

blancmange

since our fabulous birthday plans were disrupted by the blizzard of ’09 (at least i think they were fabulous. they were – and remain – a surprise merely postponed), i decided to make a special dessert for our impromptu dinner at home.

blancmange, or traditional, basic vanilla pudding. (french for “white food”)

it matched the white outside and seemed like a simple but elegant comfort food. fannie farmer provided the recipe. (according to fannie, this dessert played a key role in little women, but you couldn’t prove it by me.)

i halved the recipe to make three small portions, and i had my ramekins ready.

start by mixing 1 and a half tablespoons of cornstarch (half a tablespoon is a teaspoon and half a teaspoon. i was doing some funny math here because i was halving the recipe), 2 tablespoons sugar, a pinch of salt…

…with 1/8 of a cup (or 2 tablespoons) of milk.

meanwhile, warm the rest of your milk (3/4 of a cup plus 2 tablespoons) in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan (or, better yet, a double-boiler) over medium-low heat.

whisking constantly, add the sugar-cornstarch mixture to the warm milk.

fannie said to stir until the mixture got thick, then cook (still stirring!) for another 15 minutes to get rid of the cornstarch-y taste. in total, this took about 30 minutes. don’t let it boil, or even get close. just keep it nice and warm.

when it’s thick, stir in half a teaspoon of vanilla.

if you are going to serve it in ramekins like i did, now is the time to divide it up, let it cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for, i’d say, a couple hours or up to a day before serving.

tastes like tapioca, but without the lumps or the eggs. quick, easy… i’ll definitely make it again.

curry mee

my mom and i adapted this mark bittman recipe for coconut curry chicken noodle soup, or curry mee.  i love the flavors of coconut and curry with ginger and lime.

here’s a similar favorite, but vegetarian – with squash.

one of our main adaptations to the original recipe was that we used cod fish instead of chicken.

start by heating 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a soup pot, a melting 1 small onion, minced, 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger and 2 minced cloves of garlic.

then add 1/4 teaspoon dark red chili paste (“sambal” – mark wanted you to use 1 whole teaspoon, but 1/4 made it plenty hot enough for us) and 3 tablespoons curry powder. stir to distribute evenly.

then add 14 ounces of coconut milk, 1/2 cup milk, 4 cups chicken stock, 1/4 ground tumeric, 2 tablespoons fish sauce and 1 tablespoon sugar.

bring the broth to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and add 1/2 pound cod. let the fish cook through; this hardly takes any time at all.

right before serving, stir in a tablespoon of fresh lime juice.

meanwhile, soak thin rice noodles in hot water for 10 minutes.

add noodles to serving bowls,

add fish,

add broth,

and garnish with toasted coconut, cilantro and a lime wedge.

thoughts: 1) delicious. 2) would be better with white rice instead of rice noodles. 3) could definitely use more fish, or other seafood like a few scallops, shrimp or even mussels. 4) mark said it would make four servings, but without more meat in it (whether of land or of sea), it will only serve two.

jambalaya

i bet you were wondering just this morning what exactly goes into jambalaya, right?

lucky for you, i got to be the sous chef in a great jambalaya-making operation recently.

and for those who don’t speak french, “sous chef” translates roughly into “knife bitch.”

i have mad skillz.

jambalaya
[he’s a bit of a dump-and-guesser, so although he started with this recipe from epicurious, i bet there was some negotiating along the way. he also made it in the pressure cooker, so that changed things, as well. i was removed from the kitchen after my knife work was done, so the secrets remain secret for now…]

1/2 cup butter
2 red onions, chopped
5 green onions, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 jalapeño chili, finely chopped with seeds
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound andouille sausage or hot italian sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 14 1/2-ounce cans chicken broth
1 16-ounce can plum tomatoes, diced, with liquid
3 cups long-grain rice

melt butter in heavy large dutch oven over medium-high heat. add red onions, 4 green onion, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, jalapeño, creole seasoning, cayenne pepper and oregano. cover and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. mix in tomato paste. add sausage, broth, tomatoes and rice. bring mixture to simmer. reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. garnish with remaining green onion and serve.

spaghetti carbonara

what i had for thanksgiving dinner:

that’s right – spaghetti carbonara.

it’s a long story that involves a seven hour drive to boston, a thanksgiving meal that was served between 10:30 am and 1:00 pm, and three thai restaurants who all observed the holiday by closing.

suffice it to say, i think a new tradition has been born.

traditionally, carbonara does not include cream like it does in most restaurants today, and actually involves only four ingredients (if you don’t count salt, pepper and the spaghetti):

garlic. bacon. eggs. parmesan. you got a problem with that?

start by setting your pasta water to boil. slice three strips of bacon and crisp them in a frying pan.

towards the end, add two cloves minced garlic and lightly color. (if it gets too brown it gets bitter.)

in a serving dish, beat two eggs very well and flavor with salt and pepper.

grate about half a cup of parm.

when your pasta is done, use tongs to transfer it directly into the eggs. mix thoroughly. the hot pasta will cook the egg. then mix in the bacon, garlic and cheese.

now that’s worth giving thanks for…! (serves two)

[recipe from everybody’s favorite, ruth reichl. if you have any interest in food, or restaurants, or restaurant reviewing, or really clever writing, you should pick up one of her books.]

leek and potato soup

another leek recipe – this time the most comforting of comfort foods.

start by preparing your leeks, and dicing about three cups of potatoes, peeled.

add both the leeks and the potatoes to a tablespoon of butter and saute until the leeks are soft, but not browned.

add two cups of chicken broth and salt and pepper.

simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft enough to squiiiish into a mush.

you could probably throw the soup into a blender at this point, but i really like the mushy, chunky texture you get from just squishing the potatoes with the back of a big spoon.

now add about a cup of milk – give or take based on the texture – adjust the seasonings to taste and enjoy!

[this recipe came from jane brody via my mother]

cinnamon sugar marshmallows

before i could write this blog post, or even start the recipe for that matter, i had to get my head around marshmAAAAllows (not marshmEEEEllows, which, when you spell phonetically like i do, makes much more sense…). apparently, there’s an easy explanation, and for that we turn to our old buddy wikipedia:

“the traditional recipe used an extract from the mucilaginous root of the marsh mallow plant, a shrubby herb (Althaea officinalis), instead of gelatin…stems of marsh mallow were peeled to reveal the soft and spongy pith with a texture similar to manufactured marshmallow. this pith was boiled in sugar syrup and dried to produced a soft, chewy confection.”

it grew in a marsh. and it was called a mallow plant. get it? i’ll never spell it wrong again!

it even has a pretty little flower:

from wiki

enough with the history-slash-spelling lesson. on to the sweet stuff!

marshmallows

one cup cold water, divided
three 1/4 ounce packets of unflavored gelatin (buy it near the jello)
2 cups sugar (the regular granulated kind – not to be confused with the confectioners below…)
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
one candy thermometer (important… borrow one from a friend. thanks, miss lynn!)
non-stick (flavor-less) cooking spray (also vital!)
1/3 cup potato starch (or…)
1/3 confectioners sugar (…or 2/3 cup confectioners sugar and no potato starch)
2 tbsp. cinnamon (optional)

start by soaking your gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water. let it sit for at least 15 minutes while you start the sugar a-melting.

in a large sauce pan over low heat, dissolve the (granulated) sugar, corn syrup and salt in the other 1/2 cup of water.

when the sugar is dissolved, attach the thermometer to the side of the pot and turn up the heat. you want it to reach 240 degrees. don’t stir it! remember swiiirrrlll?

[editor’s/mother’s note: please be very very careful – there’s nothing hotter than hot sugar and if it gets on your skin it will stick and keep burning you. and i love you, so be careful!]

when the sugar hits the right temp, pour it CAREFULLY! into the bowl with the gelatin. use a kitchenaid or hand mixer to beat it. slowly increase the speed until the mixture gets white and stiff.

then beat for another 10 to 20 minutes (less if you’re using an industrial kitchenaid, more if you have a whimpy hand mixer). you’re adding the air for a light, cloud-like texture.

add the vanilla and mix for another 30 seconds.

now comes the challenging part, and just remember – non stick spray is your best friend!!

line a pan with parchment or aluminum foil and spray. spray your spatula, and your hands too, if you’re smart.

“pour” (and by that i mean WRESTLE) the sugar into the pan. it has a texture and a stickiness like nothing you’ve ever seen.

respray your spatula whenever you need to, but spread and pat the sugar into the most uniform layer you can manage.

let sit uncovered for four hours, then remove from pan (which will be easy as pie if you lubed it enough) and cut into whatever shapes you like. (did i mention to spray your knife, counter, hands or cookie cutters? this stuff is intense, trust me.)

finally, roll the shapes or cubes in a mixture of confectioners sugar and/or potato starch and cinnamon, if you’d like. now they can be saved in an airtight container for up to two weeks, and don’t stick to anything anymore!

perfect in hot chocolate or as a seasonal hostess gift.

these didn’t take a tremendous amount of work, per se, but they did take a lot of time. however, they offer quite the bang for your buck!