How do you take your Sunday paper?



Fig muffins with cream cheese filling

 Reading the Sunday Times is always an event in our house. So is Sunday coffee and Sunday breakfast not to mention Sunday dinner. I have a love/hate relationship with Sundays. In order to forget about the fact that Monday is just a few hours away, I have been known to spend most of the day in and around the kitchen. We always make an event out of reading the paper. Some Sundays are more like a production with a lot of dishes. Not this Sunday. Today I stuck to an easy muffin and strong hot coffee. How do you take your Sunday paper?

For work and pleasure, I have been playing around with a few cookbooks that are new to my collection- Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck, Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison to name a few. I recently made delicious fig muffins pictured above from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. I highly recommend all of these cookbooks for anyone interested in exploring the world of healthy soul-satisfying food.

My tweak to the recipe is in the filling. I used cream cheese instead of goat cheese because the pickiest eater in our house doesn't care for the flavor and texture of goat cheese. Wonder who that could be? One guess and it's not our dog Cal. These chewy muffins with a dreamy cream-filled center are made with whole wheat flour. They are Sunday morning stunners that taste better than any preservative laced coffee shop bran muffin. Bottom line: easy to make + pair well with the paper & coffee = these fig muffins!

Whole wheat fig muffins with cream cheese filling

Filling:
3 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
zest from one lemon or lemon
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Muffins:
2 cups whole wheat flour (8 1/2 oz if you like to use a scale)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, light or dark
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk or 3/4 cup lowfat milk mixed with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice (at room temp)
1 cup stemmed & chopped dried figs*
3 tablespoons turbinado or granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter/spray a standard size 12-cup muffin pan (or use paper liners to line each muffin cup).

Filling: in a small bowl, combine cream cheese, honey/agave, lemon zest and vanilla and blend with a fork. Set aside.

Muffins: in a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center. Meanwhile in a medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs to blend. Whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla. Then whisk in olive oil and buttermilk until a smooth cohesive mixture forms, about 30 seconds. Add the egg mixture to the center of the flour mixture, and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined; lumps are okay. Don't overmix. Fold in the dried figs.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin cup halfway full. Add about a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling to the center of each muffin. Top with the remaining batter almost to the rim of each muffin cup. Sprinkle each muffin generously with sugar.

Bake until the edges start to brown and the tops spring back when gently pressed, about 10-12 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in pan before gently twisting the muffins out of the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack or eat warm (my preference).

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for one day or in the refrigerator up to two days. They freeze well too.

*Note: the dried figs could be replaced with dried apricots, dried cherries or dried cranberries.

Makes 12 muffins
Recipe slightly altered from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals

Breakfast for dinner



Pancake delight

I love the idea of breakfast for dinner using the ingredients you have in your pantry because frankly you have nothing else. That or you aren't inspired to make anything else. I am not sure if I love the occasional breakfast for dinner idea more now or when I was a kid. In our house breakfast for dinner usually means some sort of egg dish. The other night we had enough staples to make these delicious, grainy, nutty pancakes in a flash.  I was in heaven. They are better for you than your typical IHOP pancake and oh so much more satisfying. Enjoy!

Whole Grain Pancakes

¼ cup ground flaxseed*
½ cup old-fashion oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour*
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
1 cup skim milk mixed with freshly squeezed lemon juice from ½ of a lemon (this is my version of homemade buttermilk)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water

Warm a lightly oiled non-stick skillet on medium heat while you make pancake batter.
In a large bowl, add flaxseed and old-fashion oats. Then sift in whole wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder using a handheld fine-mesh strainer. Add salt. Mix well with a fork, making a well in the center and set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg, milk/lemon juice or yogurt, oil and water. Pour wet ingredients into the center of the dry ingredient bowl where the well is. Using a spatula, stir until just combined. The batter is very thin.

Turn the skillet’s heat up to medium-high. Ladle ¼ cup of batter for each pancake onto the hot skillet, fitting as many pancakes as space allows.

Cook until bubbles appear on the top, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook on the second side until golden brown, about another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until all of your batter has been used up.

Serve with pure maple syrup and fresh berries.

Makes 4 servings (about 3 pancakes per person)

Recipe slightly adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health

*Note: store whole-wheat flour in the fridge or freezer up to a year in a Ziploc bag if you don't use it on a regular basis. Its oil content from the wheat germ can potentially lead to spoilage if left at room temperature. Do the same with ground flaxseed.

This is the before shot

 





These are no girl scout cookies

These are Ad Hoc chocolate chip cookies (however I added a pinch of sea salt). If you haven't purchased the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook, you maybe haven't lived? I am being a little dramatic but if you cook at home, this is a must have cookbook. Gorgeous photography and truly great food that turns out well every time. I have been using it since it came out in 2009. Though most of the recipes tend to be rather multi-stepped, to put it lightly, I have found that I can take flavor combinations from Thomas Keller's creations and adapt them to my simple dinners. Also, if you took my advice and read Life On the Line, now you really need to buy this cookbook. Anyone who has read that book probably wants to support Thomas Keller as much as I do.

Back to the recipe. This is my go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies in a hurry (or not). I am not talking about an overpriced box of mix that you can buy at Williams-Sonoma. Ad Hoc really does sell their mix at W.S. I am talking about 9 ingredients that you probably have in your pantry. Bonus: you won't need to bring your ingredient to room temperature. Start to finish these cookies didn't take me more than 45 minutes to whip up (baking included).  The key is having all of the ingredients in your pantry. My pantry is pretty much stocked with all of these ingredients year round so when new neighbors move into the hood, I most certainly have to greet them with my finest creations. Call me old-fashion. Honestly who bakes for their new neighbors anymore? When you have a mom like I do, you bake and give flowers, preferably homegrown flowers. I leave the green thumb part of our housewarming gifts up to my husband Michael. I am only good for cookies.

My only ask is read the entire recipe before you start baking - my students never seem to tire of me saying this.

Ad Hoc Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon a.p. flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt (don't skip this)
5 ounces of 55% chocolate chips/disks (look for Ghirardelli or E. Guittard)
5 ounces of 70-72% chocolate chips/disks (OKC friends you can find these at Forward Foods)
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup packed dark brown sugar (the darker the better)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.

Over a medium size bowl, sift the flour and baking soda. Stir in the kosher salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat half the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add both sugars and the remaining stick of butter and beat until well combined. It will take a few minutes. You want the consistency to be light and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop with a release lever, shape the dough into balls. Arrange 8-12 cookies on each baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle the tops of each cookie with a tiny pinch of sea salt. Bake for 11 minutes or until the tops are no longer shiny, switching the position and rotating the pans halfway through baking. (I always error on the side of under-baking).

Cool the cookies on the pans on cooling racks for 2 minutes to firm up a bit then transfer to the racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Makes about 20-30 cookies

Recipe from Ad Hoc at Home (with a few small adaptions)

Houriya - I can't get enough of this carrot puree




Spicy Tunisian Carrot Puree - center stage

 

The last few times I have entertained, my menus have varied based on the occasion but my trio of dips have remained constant on my table. These dips are all outstanding if I do say so myself.  Who can beat homemade hummus, followed up by hummus spiked with jalapenos, more garlic, cilantro & fresh ginger? The show stopper though is really the houriya which is a Tunisian carrot puree. Don't let its resemblance to baby food scare you. It's magical. With a few ingredients, deliciousness is within your reach. I promise.

Houriya
2 lbs. carrots, peeled & cut into evenly sized chunks (if you don't have time, skip peeling the carrots or buy baby carrots)
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons harissa (OKC folks you can find this fiery sauce can be found at the Mediterranean Imports & Deli or at Forward Foods - look for the tube)
2 teaspoons or up to 1 tablespoons cumin*, ground (preferably toasted & ground in your mortar & pestle)
2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup good quality olive oil
Reserved cooking liquid, if needed
Pita bread or pita chips, for serving

In a medium saucepan, combine carrots, salt & enough water to just cover the carrots; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce the heat & simmer until the carrots are cooked through & tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 15 minutes. Drain carrots, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.  Place cooked carrots in food processor/blender, add harissa, cumin, lemon juice & salt; pulse until coarsely pureed. With the motor running, add the olive oil.  Taste & adjust the seasoning. To thin out the puree to a silky smooth consistency, add a little bit of your reserved cooking water.  I prefer this dip to be the consistency of baby food but leaving it chunky is the author's intended texture. 

Serve at room temperature with pita bread/chips, veggies or maybe just a spoon.  It's that good!

Makes about 4 cups

Recipe from Insalata's Mediterranean Table (one of my favorite cookbooks)



The other two dips aren't shabby either



*To toast cumin seeds, also available at the stores listed above, use a small dry skillet. Heat the skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seeds & toast until aromatic & slightly darker in color, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a mortar & pestle and grind into a powder.  Or just buy pre-ground cumin at the grocery store.

Exhilarating read

Let me start by saying that I am not a huge reader. I am a product of my mother and therefore I don't sit well. I don't drive in the backseat well and I certainly don't cuddle up to a good book very often. Cookbook yes but novel no.

When Alinea's chef/owner Grant Achatz & his business partner Nick Kokonas came out with this memoir, I couldn't get my hands on it fast enough.  Though I had heard of the rule-breaking cuisine at Alinea Restaurant in Chicago, I hadn't dined there or followed the Chef's life story (capital C b/c he deserves it). This is a book for the food lover and destination diner but also the non food lover that wants to delve deep into the life of chef. Chef Grant's story is full of humility, passion, triumph and grace. I felt my heart racing every time I picked up the book because I needed to know what was going to happen next faster than I could read.

As cliche as all of this may sound, this is a story about the pursuit of a passion, persistence, putting your time in, not giving up, exploration, hope, perfection and ultimately finding success in and out of the kitchen. I won't say much more because I don't want to spoil it. 

4 days later I was done with the book. It was my personal best!

Oscar-worthy dessert

Butterscotch Pot de Creme

The Oscars are 4 days from now. Do you have party plans? Maybe you are planning on having friends over to watch the 83rd annual awards show or maybe you haven't considered doing anything for it besides tuning in? In my house, the Oscars are my equivalent of throwing a Super Bowl party except I don't have to wait until half-time to see all of my celebrity "friends."

First order of business: come up with a menu. For this type of gathering, a theme isn't necessary. The Oscars after all are your theme. Though I haven't come up with my entire menu of grabby snacks and signature drinks, I do know what's for dessert.  In fact, I may just serve it first because it's that good. The inspiration for my individual butterscotch pot de cremes comes from Town Hall restaurant in San Francisco - naturally. Though this dessert wasn't on the menu when I dined there years ago, it did steal my friend Carrie's heart just a few weeks ago. Her obsession quickly became my obsession, and I hadn't even tried it. She described it in such a way that I thought it too might deserve an Oscar (or a food Oscar if there were such a thing). Creamy, dreamy and so luscious it will make your knees weak.

Trapped in another snowstorm with all of the ingredients handy to make the chocolate pudding base and the butterscotch pot de creme top layer, I made it, loved it, shared it with neighbors and haven't stopped thinking about it since. If you do decide to give this recipe a shot, make it a day ahead or save yourself some time and use boxed chocolate pudding. I topped mine with Heath bar instead of making homemade buttercruch. This recipe makes a lot - you may want to half it. 

Whatever your plans are for this Sunday, use the Oscars as an excuse to try something new from one of those cookbooks sitting on your shelf.  You may just find yourself a winner!

Butterscotch Pot de Creme

Grain salads- surround yourself with deliciousness

Recipes from today's KSBI 52 All About You episode include:
-Mexican quinoa salad with lime jalapeno vinaigrette (gluten free recipe)
-Moroccan sweet potato and Forbidden rice salad (gluten free recipe)
-Curried chickpea, cauliflower and barley salad


Fiesta in a bowl!

Mexican Quinoa Salad
Salad: 1 cup quinoa, soaked for 1 hour in water and drained*
1/2 cup baby tomatoes, halved
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1/2 avocado, pitted and diced
1/2 cup corn kernels, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup black beans, drained & rinsed
2 cups baby spinach
optional add-in ingredients: 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, handful of crushed tortilla chips, 3 tablespoons diced jicama, 2 thinly sliced radishes
Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice squeezed from 2 limes
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or 1 teaspoon agave nectar
2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño pepper
¼ cup olive oil


Start by cooking quinoa. In a medium saucepan bring 1 1/2 cup of water to a boil.  Add a generous pinch of kosher salt and the quinoa.  Once water comes to a boil, reduce heat to simmer/low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes until water is absorbed.  Let quinoa sit off the heat for 10 minutes before removing lid & fluffing with a fork.  Cool quinoa to room temperature before adding to salad bowl.


In a large salad bowl, toss together the rest of the salad ingredients except the spinach. Once quinoa has cooled, add it to this veggie mixture. Set aside while making dressing.
Dressing: in separate bowl, mix all dressing ingredients except olive oil. Whisk in olive oil slowly to emulsify. Taste dressing on a spinach leaf. Adjust seasoning by adding more salt, pepper and/ lime juice. Once ready to serve, pour a few tablespoons of dressing over salad mixture, add spinach and toss again. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add more dressing as needed. Serve immediately.

Note: if you don't have time to soak quinoa but want to rid the grain of its bitter coating, simply wash quinoa in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a fine-mesh sieve between changes. Serves 4
Recipe inspired by Self Magazine


Roasted sweet potatoes

Moroccan Bhutanese Red Rice & Sweet Potato Salad
1 cup Bhutanese red rice or Forbidden Black Rice (Lotus Foods brand)*
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into small cubes (about 1 pound)
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
¾ t. Kosher salt

Dressing:

Pinch of saffron threads
½ teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 400°
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of rice and 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil.  Add a generous pinch of kosher salt.  Once water comes to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer/low and cook for 30 minutes, until water has absorbed.  Let stand, covered, off heat for 10 minutes before fluffing with fork.  Let cool to room temperature before adding rice to salad bowl.

Meanwhile, spread potatoes out onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Using hands, toss to coat potatoes. Bake until done, about 25-30 minutes, when pierced with a knife and there’s no resistance. Set aside.

Lastly, make vinaigrette by mixing together the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Add cooked sweet potatoes, cooked rice and let sit for 30 minutes, stirring now and then. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve at room temperature.

Note: can add additional ingredients like green olives, zest of one lemon and/ green onions. Also brown rice, barley or farro would work well instead of red rice. Roast potatoes up to 2 days ahead.

Serves 4
Recipe adapted from The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters

Ready to enjoy





  



Yum on a plate

Curried Chickpea, Caulilfower & Barley Salad

Salad:
1 cup quick-cooking barley
1/2 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed & drained
5 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced at a diagonal
1/3 cup golden raisins, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes
1/4 cup pistachios, toasted & roughly chopped*
2 tablespoons mint, chopped
Cauliflower:
1 medium head cauliflower, cored, cut into 1-inch florets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt 
Dressing:
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder, preferably Madras
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 clove garlic, peeled & minced
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°

To cook barley, add 2 cups of water to a saucepan, add a generous pinch of salt and turn heat to high. Once water comes to a boil, add barley, turn down the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes, until barley is tender but chewy.  Side note: if you buy pearled barley know that it has a longer cooking time ~ 45-60 minutes.  Once barley is cooked, let sit for 5 minutes, covered before fluffing with a fork.  Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, in a large salad bowl toss the rest of the salad ingredients together.  Set aside.Roast cauliflower: toss cauliflower and 2 tablespoons oil in large bowl. Transfer to medium rimmed baking sheet. Roast until very tender & browned in spots, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature.

Vinaigrette: in small bowl whisk together all but the olive oil.  Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Thirty minutes before serving, add cooked barley & roasted cauliflower to salad bowl.  Toss with enough vinaigrette to coat salad.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.  Serve at room temperature, cold or warm.

Note: to toast shelled pistachios, bake in a 350° oven for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Dried apricots and almonds are good substitues for golden raisins and pistachios. Roast cauliflower up to 2 days ahead.  Try roasting another veg if you don't like cauliflower.
Serves 4

Recipe inspired by Ad Hoc at Home