Cooking that won't make you high strung

Rancho Gordo Runner Cannellini Beans (photo from ranchogordo.com)

With temperatures lingering at well over 100 for the past 30+ days, I might as well say that I live in the Mojave Desert. The thought of turning on a hot stove has sounded less than desirable since before Memorial Day. Strangely I do cook at home all the time even in extreme ankle sweltering conditions but I try to limit the amount of time my gas range is cranked on high. A simple summer salad made from dried cannellini beans hit the mark tonight. With a few simple, fresh ingredients we had a delightful almost no-cook dinner. Tonight's dinner was inspired by a friend of a friend based out of Chicago named Mama from Mama's High Strung. Her down to earth approach to cooking and endless knowledge of food is anything but high strung. Her flavors are fresh and authentic, her passages thought-provoking. Check her out her recipe for Italian White Bean Salad here

By the way, if you haven't tried heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo, you are missing out. These cannellini beans are out of this world creamy and through the roof healthy. Happy summer non-cooking!

Ice cream nostalgia plus salty caramel ice cream from Jeni's Splendid ice creams

I have always had a sweet spot for frozen desserts. Or maybe it's more like a weak spot. Who can resist rich, sweet, creamy, dreamy custard chock full of flavor balls, nuggets and the like?  Not me. Here's a look back at places that have stolen my heart & the glorious recipe for Jeni's Splendid Salty Caramel ice cream - enjoy: 

-I grew up a few blocks from a place called the Yogurt Mill which I still frequent whenever I am back in NorCal. I never worked at the Yogurt Mill but I certainly thought about applying for a summer job like the rest of the cute high school girls in my hometown. Drive thru fro yo - yes please!
-Beyond "the Mill," there was Swensen's, an old fashion ice cream parlor that I celebrated many birthdays at until frozen yogurt shops put them shamefully out of business. TCBY was never very good in my book but if I need something frozen when stuck at the Denver airport, I will give in. I suppose it's better for you than McDonalds (not that I would ever...)?
-Lucky Grocery Store had 35 cent cones when I was a kid which were only average in comparison to the few old fashion ice cream parlors around town.
-Baskins-Robbins was close to my grade school, made what seemed like decent ice cream cakes at the time and I did like the fact that I never had to sample the same flavor twice. By the way, I am a huge sampler much to my husband's demise. Why is sampling so embarrassing to him?  I only commit once I am fully satisfed with my selection.
-The Cold Stones of the world never did much for me but the concept is fun.
-Mitchell's Ice Cream in San Francisco holds a special place in my heart because it's old fashion and they have to-die-for Oreo and Banana ice creams. Sometimes I ate them together but on a good day I would only nosh on one scoop. I even had a surprise birthday party at Mitchell's when I turned probably 25...thanks Michael, best husband ever!
-Small batch artisian ice cream is and has been hot in San Francisco for years. Bi-Rite Creamery has the best salted caramel ice cream and soft-serve hands-down. Then we moved to the land of the artisan-less food movement. Luckily I was introduced by my friend Carrie to Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. Little did we both know that I could find Jeni's Salty Caramel locally at a small grocer. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I met my copy of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home - the cookbook. In fact Carrie got me a signed copy in San Francisco. At the book signing Carrie even got to sample a few flavors. Jeni's personal favorite is her lemon blueberry frozen yogurt.

Game over, now I can make my own salty caramel using her foolproof method. I was skeptical of the fact that she doesn't use egg yolks in her ice cream, instead using cornstarch as a thickener. Well her salty (not salted) caramel ice cream is pretty much the best at-home frozen treat I have tasted, as reference last November (I dream of ice cream post). It's tangy, salty, sweet, rich and a sheer enjoyment on a hot summer day. Jeni's salty caramel is sold for $11 a pint. I swear to my husband that I only buy it on rare occassion which is mostly true. On days like yesterday when temps hit 110 degrees, I couldn't get enough of my very own homemade Jill's Salty Caramel (recipe below pictures).

1. Melted sugar before cream and honey are added



2. Cream and honey are added to make caramel



3. After cooling for 24 hours in the fridge, the base was ready to be churned



4. Voila!

Salty Caramel Ice Cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home

2 tablespoons whole milk 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened (3 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (she uses 2 T. light corn syrup) in a pourable measuring cup
2/3 cup pure cane sugar (she uses regular sugar)
2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese and salt until smooth. I like to use a standing mixer with the whisk attachment for the cream cheese but if you have to do it by hand, be my guest.

2. Heat a medium (4 quart) heavy bottomed saucepan until screaming hot. Turn heat down to medium-high and slowly add sugar around the circumfrance of the pot and into the center. The sugar will melt from the edges inward and turn a golden amber color as shown in the photo above. Remove from heat and stirring constantly with a high heat spatula, add a bit of the cream/honey mixture. It will fizzle and pop like the second picture shows. Stir until well combined, then add a little more and stir. Keep adding the cream a little at a time until all of the cream has been incorporated.

3. Return the pan to medium-high heat add the milk. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

4. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese/salt mixture until smooth. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl to make sure that all of the cream cheese has been incorporated. Add vanilla extract and give the mixture one last stir.

5. Pour the ice cream into a 1 gallon Ziplock freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag into the ice bath (prepared in step 1). Let stand in ice bath until cold, about 30 minutes. Place freezer bag in fridge overnight before churning.

6. Churn the ice cream base in an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions, about 20-25 minutes in most cases. Pack the ice cream into a plastic container.

7. Press a sheet of parchment paper directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid. Freeze the vanilla ice cream until firm, at least 4 hours, if you can wait that long.  If not, call it salty caramel soft serve.

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!