Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Blueberry Sage Muffins


Blueberry Sage Muffins from Diana Dyer's blog

Inspired by Blueberry Sage Muffin recipe from The Herbal Palate Cookbook by Maggie Oster & Sal Gilbertie

Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients
  • 2 c blueberries,
  • 2 Tbsp. minced fresh sage leaves (right from my garden - I would use even more next time)
  • 1/2 c sugar,
  • 2-3 tsp. minced lemon zest (zest one whole lemon and use all of it)
  • 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat flour),
  • 2 tsp baking powder,
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda,
  • 1/4 tsp salt,
  • 1 large egg,
  • 1/2 c plain organic yogurt
  • 1/2 c milk (dairy or unsweetened soy milk)
  • 2 Tbsp. canola oil,
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice (fresh is best - use the lemon that you zested).
  • Sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mixture if desired. (I used a sprinkle of plain ground flaxseeds)
Directions:
  • In a large bowl, combine the berries, sage, sugar, and lemon zest. Let sit for 30 minutes.
  • Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Line 12 standard size muffin cups with paper liners.
  • Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.
  • Wisk together the egg, yogurt, milk, oil, and lemon juice, then add to the blueberry mixture.
  • Pour the blueberry mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix.
  • Fill each muffin cup to within 1/2 inch of the top.
  • Combine sugar and cinnamon for the topping and sprinkle some on each muffin.
  • Bake for 25 minutes, or until muffin tops spring back when lightly touched.
  • Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies


Every once in a while I get bit by the bug to make something specific. In this case it was peanut butter cookies with chocolate. I was gonna make peanut butter blossoms (where you put a Hershey's Kiss in the middle), but I got lazy and decided to just use chocolate chips. Then I decided to add some peanut butter chips for good measure. I've also been hooked on adding oatmeal to cookies for the texture. I found this recipe on Baking Bites

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (I buy unsalted peanut butter so I added 1/2 tsp)
1 cup quick cook oats
1 cup flour (I used 1/2 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat)
optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350
cream butter and sugars together
add vanilla and egg
add peanut butter
add flour,oats, baking soda, and salt in batches just until combined
quickly stir in chips

roll dough into 1 inch balls and bake for 11-14 min

made 3 dozen (probably makes 4 doz, I tend to be generous in my rolling)


Tuna & Rice Salad



This is one of my all time favorite lunches. It is adapted from this recipe on all recipes, that states it came from someone's croatian roommate.

Tuna and Rice Salad

1/2 cup cooked brown rice
chopped romaine lettuce
1 pkg tuna fish flaked
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 small shallot grated
  • 1 clove garlic grated
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 handful olives

make the salad right after you cook the rice while it's still warm
toss the rice and lettuce, crumble the tuna and add the olives

combine the olive oil, vinegar, shallot, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper in a screw top container and shake until emulsified.

dress the salad with dressing and enjoy!


Strarberry Lime Basil Sorbet


I got a bunch of strawberries, limes, and basil in my Trader Joe's pickup this week (I pickup food for a local food pantry and they let me keep some for myself). It's been pretty hot here in Boston lately, and I've got book group coming up on sunday, so I figured I'd bust out the ice cream maker and whip up some sorbet.

1 1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 bunch basil divided
4 cups strawberries, hulled and chopped
1/2 cup lime juice
zest of 1 lime

combine water, sugar and half of the basil in a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves. let it sit until the liquid cools
once the liquid cools, put the strawberries, lime juice, lime zest, and the other half of the basil cut into small strips (aka chiffonade) into a blender and puree. Cool the mixture and then follow your ice cream maker's directions.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Asparagus, kale, crabmeat quiche

Today is trivia, which means dinner at our place. I have some asparagus I've been holding on to from the farmshare, and thought I would make some quiche. I also had some extra kale and a can of crabmeat. (I actually made two quiches, one with and one without crabmeat)

I DID cheat by buying the piecrust at the store instead of making it (I blame staying two hours late at work)

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp butter
1/2 bunch asparagus trimmed and cut into two inch pieces
1/2 bunch kale with stems removed cut into 1 inch strips
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh taragon
1 can crabmeat
1 cup grated swiss cheese

sautee the onion and garlic in butter til browned, then add the kale and asparagus, turn heat to medium and cover. Cook asparagus and kale until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste

Put the veggie mixture in a prebaked pie shell. add taragon, crumble canned crabmeat over the mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

In a bowl combine egg and cream. Pour egg mixture over the veggies and bake at 350 for 45-55 min until set.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Plantains, Beans an Rice

Today I swung by Market Basket in Chelsea for some things, and found a bunch of dented cans of black beans on sale for 30 cents, and a pile of beautifully yellow plantains. I also had some leftover cilantro from last nights supper, and rice. that seemed like a good start for dinner.

When I worked at a non profit residential program for kids in trouble (throw em a couple of bucks if you can), one of my favorite guys on staff was named Manolo. His family was from the Dominican Republic, and he would make platanos, beans and rice for the kids. I used his method for tonights dinner:

Peel the plantain (it's pretty much like peeling a banana except it helps to use a knife to get started because the peel is so thick). Slice into 1 inch slices. Fry on each side in a pan of cannola oil.

From More Cupcakes

Then drain on a paper towel

From More Cupcakes!

Use the bottom of a glass or some other flat object to squash the fried plantain,

then refry again in the oil,

From More Cupcakes!

Drain again on paper towels, and salt and pepper the finished product and enjoy!

From More Cupcakes!

For the beans I chopped up an onion and three cloves of garlic and sauteed in butter. Then I chopped up a tomato and a cup of cilantro and added a can of black beans. I seasoned them with some adobo, which is a combination of salt, pepper and spices. If you don't have it, then salt, pepper and cumin should do. Rice was just rice, so...that should be easy :P

Saturday, June 4, 2011

H Mart, Bok Choi, and Korean Style Salmon

Today I went to Burlington to get Ninja (my Ford Focus Hatchback) an oil change at sears, with plans for a trip to H Mart. H Mart is a Korean grocery store that is GINORMOUS, with a food court (I had some fresh rolls from the Vietnamese booth "Pho Sure") and lots of people set up sampling foods. We got Bok Choi and Cucumbers in the farm share, so I figured I'd do something with the Bok Choi, with some salmon for supper tonight, and then make some Sushi Salad for dinner later this week (maybe Monday before trivia). I LOVE asian grocery stores. They have great prices on produce (lemons are even cheaper at H Mart than at Market Basket, which seems impossible) fun products (ask my roommate G about Red Bean Ice Cream Pops sometime) and ingredients that are hard to find.

Anyhow, for dinner tonight I made Bok Choi with peanuts and cilantro (which I love) and Korean Salmon.

Bok Choi with Peanuts and Cilantro (recipe from What Did You Eat)

2 bunches bok choi washed, and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tbsp neutral oil (peanut or canola)
1/4 cup peanuts
pinch red pepper flakes
1 onion chopped
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch dissolved in 3 tbsp liquid (I used water, but OJ or lemon/lime juice would be interesting I think)
1 cup cilantro (aka Chinese parsley) chopped

heat the oil in a pan/wok and then fry the peanuts and pepper flakes and a pinch of salt for a minute
cook the onions and ginger for another minute or two
add the bok choi and cook until just starting to wilt 5 min or so
add the liquids and cilantro and simmer til the sauce thickens a bit

I used this as a side, but you could toss in some chicken or tofu and make a meal out of it. Especially over some soba noodles

As for the salmon, I made a sauce that I found on Morsels and Musings that uses a Korean ingredient called gochujang (my bottle was spelled Chogochyjang, which wikipedia tells me is actually a different product, made with gochujang with extra ingredients).

it looks a bit like ketchup, but it's made from red peppers and is fermented and has a nice kick. The sauce I made based loosely on the recipe from Morsels and Musings:

2 tbsp each
Miso Paste
Chogochyjang
Orange Juice
sesame oil
2tsp soy sauce

I combined them all, and then basted the salmon with it and broiled it

Fist Full of Blueberries

We got a little container of blueberries in the farmshare, and I saw a recipe on The Gingered Whisk for Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes. Blueberry pancakes tend to be a bit too fluffy and sweet for me, and don't stand up well to the blueberries. This recipe is fluffy, with some crunchy. I added some lemon zest to enhance the flavor of the blueberries. I also used 2 cups milk and the juice of one lemon instead of buttermilk.

Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes (Eat Live Travel Write)


From More Cupcakes!


1.5 cups cornmeal
¾ cup flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tso coarse kosher salt
zest 1/2 lemon
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
¼ cup canola oil
Melted Butter
1 cup fresh blueberries
Maple syrup for serving

Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, and oil.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, whisk to blend, and let stand for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees, and place a baking sheet in the oven to warm.
Preheat griddle/cast iron skillet over medium heat and brush with some melted butter.
Working in batches, spoon ¼ - ½ cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake.
Sprinkle each pancake with a tablespoon of blueberries.
Cook until golden brown and just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side.
Transfer to the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm until you are finished cooking all the pancakes.
Serve with maple syrup.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

5 Spice Ginger Pickles

I love love LOVE pickles. And I love love LOVE ginger. And cucumbers go bad fast, so I decided to make some "quickles" aka quick pickles. Basically these are refrigerator pickles. You slice the cucumber (and onion in this case) and then soak them in a brine in the fridge. I don't bother going through the canning process, mostly because I'm lazy and afraid of botulism.

1 cucumber sliced
1 half sweet onion sliced
1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice seasoning)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp five spice powder
1/2 tsp salt

combine the liquid in a jar, then layer the pickles and onions and toss in the fridge. The longer they soak the more flavorful they get.

Moroccan Veggie Stew


I have a bunch of Kale at my house from our CSA, and I figured I'd make some stew with potatoes and beans. I like the way the stew has both sweet and salty flavors. Zeke had a great idea of adding peanuts for some crunchy, which I would definitely do next time.

Moroccan Veggie Stew

Ingredients
1 onion chopped
4 cloved garlic minced
1 sweet potato peeled and cubed
4 potatoes peeled and cubed
1 bunch kale, stems removed cut into 1 inch strips
1 can diced tomato and juice
3 cups veggie broth
1 cup dried lentils
1 can garbonzo beans
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tsp aleppo pepper (or 1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper)
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dried apricots
2 tbsp butter

in pot melt butter and sautee onion and garlic
sautee kale for 3 min
add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until lentils soften

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Dandelion Green Pasta

Dandelion Green Pasta by kel h
Dandelion Green Pasta, a photo by kel h on Flickr.

Got some Dandelion Greens in last week's farmshare. They are mighty bitter, which is why I added the butter to the recipe.

From Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka

Ingredients:
3 cups penne
1/4 c olive oil
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 small white onion chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
bunch dandelion greens with thick stems removed, cut into 1 1/2 inch strips
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese for serving

cook penne in salted water per instructions. reserve liquid

heat olive oil in pan, cook garlic and onion until just beginning to brown

stir in red pepper flakes until starts to sizzle.

cook dandelion greens 3 min until bright green

add butter and 1/3 cup pasta water and bring to boil in skillet. cook til reduced by half. salt and pepper to taste.

Toss to coat with sauce and serve with grated parmesan

Fiddlehead Pasta with Beurre Blanc

this is the second time I've gotten fiddleheads in the CSA farmshare. They're interesting, with a mild, fresh, green taste and interesting texture. The important thing seems to be choosing something that doesn't overwhelm the flavor, which is why I chose Beurre Blanc sauce and angel hair pasta. If I had frozen peas I would have added some of those too. Could also work with a mild protien like shrimp.

Ingredients:
1 bag fiddleheads
1 box angelhair pasta
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup white wine
1 lemon
1 small shallot grated
2-3 garlic cloves grated
handful parsley chopped
salt and pepper

Directions

Boil a pot of water

soak and gently rub fiddleheads with paper towel and cut off ends as needed

drop fiddleheads in for 3-5 min until "tender crisp", then put in cold water bath to keep from over cooking

add salt to water and boil pasta per instructions

zest lemon and set aside

in saucepan heat up wine, juice from lemon, shallot and garlic. simmer until sauce reduces by half.

add two sticks of butter and zest a tablespoon at a time.

once sauce thickens, add parsley, salt and pepper to taste and toss with pasta and fiddleheads