Thursday, February 28, 2008

In search of a recipe?


Like Goldilock's porridge, sometimes you are looking to find a recipe that is *just right.* With a specific dish in mind, but no recipe in hand, you scour google and food blogs for a good version of the recipe that inspires you to march to the kitchen and tie on an apron. Something not too high in fat, authentic, simple yet delicious, something tried and true, etc....


Now with foodblogsearch.com, your recipe hunt is simplified! All you have to do is type in what you feel like cooking, hit search, and you get recipes from other food blogs. Take your pick from the array of recipes! Perfect!


Try it! ---> foodblogsearch.com

Taste of Italy! #2


After dinner Limoncello.


Pizza in Assisi.


A typical bakery store front display.


Veal. Or was it lamb? I can't remember... but it was good!
Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Taste of Italy. First installment.


Pici pasta with a pesto and meat ragu. In the back, handmade gnocchi filled with cheese!


First dinner in Siena, Italy!


Beef carpaccio with a light orange sauce.

Lots of wine EVERY SINGLE night.
Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, February 20, 2008


This is called "Straw and Hay Tangled Fettuccine", a blend of spinach and egg fettuccine coated with a pinenut and parm spiked asparagus and spinach pesto. Y-U-M. I used fresh spinach pasta from Russo's, which made all the difference- it was thick, chewy and really held the sauce.

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus, halved crosswise
3 handfuls spinach
2 cloves garlic, lightly roasted (to make less pungent)
1/8 c. olive oil
1/4 c. toasted pine nuts
1/2 c. parmesan cheese, shredded

6 oz. fresh spinach fettucine
6 oz. egg fettucine

Boil water and cook asparagus for 2-3 minutes or until just tender. Blend in food processor with spinach, garlic, oil, cheese, and most of the pinenuts (reserve 2 TB for sprinkling at the end).

Then boil pasta until al dente. Combine 1 c. of pesto with hot pasta, adding more pasta until coated the way you like it. Garnish with extra pine nuts and shaved parmesan cheese.
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, February 19, 2008




Banana Oat Muffins with Cranberries

I wanted to make a healthy muffin that was also hearty and tasty, which led me to pick apart 4 different recipes, each containing a facet of the type of muffin I wanted to create, and recombine parts of each in an attempt to create the ultimate muffin. Since my muffin had to be healthy but flavorful, I needed some butter for that rich taste, but figured that mashed banana could also act as a binding agent to sub for the rest of the butter. Then, I wanted to include oats as a way to up the fiber for maximum breakfast value. Lastly, I wanted to use a combination of yogurt/sour cream to see how the texture would be affected and to add moisture. Studying up on muffin food science and constructing a matrix breaking down each recipe into fat, dairy, flour, and sugar, I finally arrived at a hybrid recipe to try!

First, I soaked 1 cup of oats in sour cream/yogurt/buttermilk to soften them up and to add some tang to the muffins. Then I creamed some butter with brown sugar, added 1 egg, vanilla, and the mashed bananas. The oats got dumped into the wet mixture. Finally, I added the sifted-together flour mix and combined until everything was just moistened. I threw in some fresh cranberries I found in the fridge, along with some dried craisins. Crossing my fingers as I watched them bake, I could only hope the end result would be somewhat edible. Appearance-wise, they looked normal; they rose and rose into lovely domes. After 15 minutes, out they came! And... they were great! These banana-scented muffins are moist and light, while still packing some serious heft with all that fiber. Next time, I might try adding blueberries or raisins instead of competing cranberries which take attention away from the banana. I would also add a smidge more sugar, but all in all, this experient was a success. Okay, I'm done being a food nerd.

Banana Oat Muffins


1 c. combo of sour cream/yogurt/buttermilk (I used 1/3 c. of each)
1 c. rolled oats + shredded wheat

1 ¼ c. flour (I used whole wheat and all purpose)
1 ½ tsp. baking power
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

3 TB butter
½ c. sugar

1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. mashed bananas (2 ripe bananas)

½ c. cranberries/raisins
½ c. fresh halved cranberries
nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Soak oats and bran in sour cream/yogurt/buttermilk for 30 min. Add honey if desired.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl and set aside.

In stand mixer, combine butter with sugar until fluffy. Then add egg, vanilla, and mashed bananas.

Combine oat mixture with wet ingredients. Then mix in dry ingredients until just moistened. Do not overmix!

Add in fruit and nuts. Fill muffin tins ¾ full. Sprinkle cane sugar over each muffin, or make streusel.

Bake muffins for 15 minutes. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then turn out on wire rack to cool completely.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

I must know kung-fu...

Ooo boy, I think I added a bit too much garlic because my breath is KICKIN'!!

This parsley pesto recipe was good though and it was an easy Valentine's day meal with the roomie. Quickly whirl together the ingredients in a food processor, toss it into some spaghetti, and add a few chunks of chicken strips for a meal.

Parsley pesto:

2 Tbsp. whole almonds
1 packed cup Italian parsley leaves
4 - 6 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
1 small garlic clove, pressed (optional)

In a small food processor, pulse the almonds until finely ground. They don't need to be quite as fine as, say, sand, but close. Add the parsley, 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic (if using), and process to a paste. Taste and, if needed, adjust salt, lemon juice, and/or olive oil.

(I added some fresh parm cheese to my pesto.)

Yield: about ½ cup

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Dorie Greenspan Recipe #1

Tomorrow I am wishing my co-workers a happy Valentine's day with some Carrot Spice Muffins. These babies are from the first recipe I am trying from Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From my home to yours." They are pretty easy to whip up and bake - I'd say 45 minutes or so from start to finish. The smell of the carrots and spices wafting from the oven are better than any candle you can buy. :) The texture of these muffins is very light and the crumb is loose...not what I'd expect from a 'hearty'-seeming muffin.

Here's the recipe:
Carrot Spice Muffins

Makes 12
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup shredded carrots, about 3, peeled and trimmed
1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened
1/3 cup raisins or currants
1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted, cooled and chopped

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375°. Butter or spray the 12 muffin molds in a regular sized muffin tin, or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternately, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, milk and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough - a few lumps are better than over-mixing the batter. Stir in the carrots, coconut, currants and nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.Bake for 20 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Sweet Hearts



Valentine's Day cookie orders are completed! A day of baking, icing and wrapping produced 4 boxes of personalized "conversation heart" sugar cookies. I hope the valentine receipients get a kick outta them.

My little friend makes pancakes




Yeasted pancake batter.



The artist at work.




Pancake minis!

The recipe for these pancakes required a packet of yeast and 1 hr of patience while letting the batter do it's thing. They pancakes were fluffy and had a yeasty/nutty flavor. Pretty good. Not sure it's worth all the wait though! Here's the recipe:

Yeasted Pancakes

(adapted from this recipe)

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp active dry yeast
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups milk (low fat/skim is fine), warm
  • 1/4 cup water, warm
  • 2 large eggs2 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda


In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast and sugar. Stir in warm (110F) milk and water, mixing vigorously until smooth.

Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour.

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, melted butter, vanilla. Stir in the rest of the flour and the salt. Pour into yeast mixture and stir until smooth. Add in baking soda and stir well. Batter will be quite thick.

Heat a griddle or large skillet until very hot; a drop of water will sizzle and dance on the surface. Drop dollops onto hot griddle and cook until golden brown.

Serve immediately.


Makes 6 generous servings.


I tried this mellow barley dish from "Super Natural Cooking" tonight. The book is a great inspiration for healthy/natural cooking, although stocking up on things like agave nectar, amaranth flour, brown rice syrup, and the like require high commitment. Not sure how natural I can get (I DID have my lunch of juicy dripping italian sausage on multigrain bread- healthy, right?), but this recipe calls for commonly found ingredients. Similar to arborio rice, the barley came out creamy, with a nice chew. The flavors of orange, watercress, parmesan cheese came together nicely in this subtle dish. Here is a link to another blog that has the recipe: http://otherpeoplesfood.blogspot.com/2007/06/risotto-style-barley-with-winter-citrus.html

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Super Bowl Sunday


Go Pats! In celebration of the Super Bowl, I've decorated my carrot cake with some green coconut astroturf and sprinkles. Goal posts of toothpicks and a football made by using a black sharpie on a red M&M.
For the cake, I used a recipe from Cooking Light. It's not really that "light" but I guess it's a whole lot lighter than other carrot cake recipes. The recipe only calls for 3 Tbs of oil! That's so little! er, I hope the cake tastes good.......
Carrot Cake Cake:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
  • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups grated carrot
  • 1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple, drainedCooking spray
Frosting:
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Additional grated carrot (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.


To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.

Combine flour, sugar, coconut, pecans, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Combine oil and eggs; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated carrot, and pineapple into flour mixture.

Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.


To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake. Garnish each serving with grated carrot, if desired.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 piece)CALORIES 322 (29% from fat); FAT 10.4g (sat 4.2g,mono 3.2g,poly 1.5g); PROTEIN 4.1g; CHOLESTEROL 40mg; CALCIUM 29mg; SODIUM 403mg; FIBER 1.4g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 54.4g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2007