Apple Cider Doughnuts

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This recipe is adapted from one I found on the food network.  Really, what 40+ week pregnant woman should be fussing with doughnuts, or the additional effort of rolling out dough and cutting the shapes out?  Insanity.  To cut down of effort, I knew that I would be making "doughnut holes," and I was actually hoping that I would be making this recipe after coming home from the hospital instead of before heading to.  So, I did the applesauce and glaze making in advance and froze them.  The recipe didn't specify whether to use spiced cider or not, so I opted for spiced. Finally, the original recipe calls for dipping the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar, which 1. was too sweet, and 2. I botched the recipe and added all the cinnamon to the dough, so I figured more cinnamon would be overkill.  It worked out in the recipe, however, so I've kept the extra cinnamon and I doubled the glaze because it wasn't quite enough for all the doughnuts.

2 Med. Apples (I used fuji)

3 1/2 C. Spiced Apple Cider, divided

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2/3 Sugar

3 Tbsp. Vegetable Shortening

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

1/4 C. Buttermilk

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 C. Powdered Sugar

Vegetable oil for frying

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Core and coarsely chop the apples (do not peel). Combine with 1 1/2 cups cider in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cover and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the apples are tender and the cider is almost completely reduced, about 5 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender or in a food processor until smooth. Measure the sauce; you should have 1 cup. (Boil to reduce further, if necessary.) Let cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

Beat granulated sugar and the shortening in another bowl with a mixer on medium speed until sandy. Beat in the egg and yolk, then gradually mix in the applesauce, scraping the bowl. Beat in half of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk and vanilla, and then the remaining flour mixture. Mix to make a sticky dough; do not overmix.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper and pat into a 7-by-11-inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: Simmer the remaining 2 cups cider in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1/2 cup. Whisk in the confectioners' sugar until smooth and glossy, then set aside.

Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Cut the chilled dough into small (approx 1-inch) squares and shape into balls. Slip 4 or 5 doughnuts at a time into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side, adjusting the heat as needed. Transfer to the paper towels to drain.

Brown Sugar Bars

From the recipe book Granny's Drawers.  My mother-in-law bought this book for me from a little country store (were we in Indiana or was it here in CA?  Can't remember the details.).  It's got a lot of midwestern, home-style recipes (read cream of ___ soup, etc).  I saw the recipe for Brown Sugar Bars and knew I had to try them.  My first and only other experience with a brown sugar bar was from Perfectly Sweet, a bakery that supplied Wild Oats (a natural foods store where I worked during my teenage years).  I will admit that I've made this recipe several times and it wasn't until I copied it down to post it that I realized the butter was supposed to be melted.  So, I altered the recipe below to make it clear that it should be melted.  This may account for some of the issues I have had with the bars. They get a very thick top crust that is crumbly and not very pretty.  They also usually bake up on the sides to high while the center falls.  All this to say, it's not a perfect recipe and maybe someday when I have the time I'll play with it, but for now, it tastes good enough to overlook the flaws.  And, as I leaned the other day, it doesn't double well, at least not with the size pans that I have!!  Whew!  That was a disaster!  I haven't tried them with the pecans, but I'm sure they're good that way, too.  Maybe someday I'll get a picture up.

2 sticks butter
4 C. Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
2 C. Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 C. Pecans, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and cream with brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the dry ingredients and mix. Add vanilla and pecans and stir. Pour into a 9x13 greased pan (for easier removal, line pan with aluminum foil and grease the foil). Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Yields 24 bars

Dinner Tonight

I've been working pretty hard to find recipes that do not require me to start the oven this summer and when I saw this recipe for homemade ricotta cheese I knew I had to make it. You see, the grainy stuff you find in the grocery store is a poor, poor excuse for ricotta. Any Italian will tell you that it's no good, but what can you do? Many Italians in the LA area seek out Gioia ricotta, which is the best you can find around. But when I saw how simple it is to make ricotta at home, I'm just not sure I would make the effort to go out of my way for another ricotta. Very simple and delicious. I paired it with a seeded baguette and slow roasted tomatoes (my newest obsession that I will soon be experimenting with) from Trader Joe's. Yum.
To accompany our toasts I made a fennel and orange salad. Thinly slice two bulbs of fennel (a mandolin works great for this); using a knife peel the skin and outer membrane off two oranges and cut the segments from the membrane (aka supreme); when you are done with each orange squeeze the remaining "core" over the fennel; thinly slice about 5 lg mint leaves and add to oranges and fennel; add a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Fried Zucchini Blossoms were the final piece of the meal. One which Ilan swore he would not eat until I gave him a tiny piece of the fried batter. The boys loved them. I would post my pictures, but the Bon Appetit pictures are much prettier.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon-Raisin Bread

Several weeks ago Ilan asked, "Ima, why haven't you made me toast in a while?" I suppose the true answer is because I haven't been making challah all that often and, well, challah toast just tastes a whole lot better than sprouted multi-grain toast. So, on a whim I picked up a loaf of the Sun-Maid Cinnamon-Raisin bread and figured I'd see how he liked it. He did. A lot.

So I started thinking I could make a whole wheat version at home and would feel a whole lot better about giving him something homemade and with ingredients that I feel good about. Who knows what is really in the kind you buy, you know?

So I was thinking about it. And then Becca had a bread night. You see, Becca has been milling her own flour and she shared with us curious onlookers about how she does it (and then she gave us each a loaf of freshly made bread). So, I didn't mill my own flour, but I did find the inspiration to get this bread a-baking. I started with a recipe from food network, but have modified it sufficiently. Here is my version:

2 C. Bread Flour
2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C. Dry Buttermilk Powder (you can find this in the baking isle at most grocery stores)
1 lg Egg
2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
3 Tbsp. Honey
2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
Cooking Spray
1 C. Raisins, soaked in water
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/3 C. Packed Brown Sugar

Dry raisins will rob moisture from the bread, so soak them first in boiling water until plump, about 30 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Add some vanilla or rum to increase flavor (optional).

Heat 1 1/2 cups water and use instant read thermometer to make sure it is 105-110 degrees F. Stir yeast into water.

Combine both flours, the dry buttermilk, egg, canola oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix 3 minutes on the lowest setting, then increase to the next highest setting and mix 5 more minutes. The dough should be soft and sticky.

On low-speed knead the raisins into the dough mixture.

Transfer the dough to a large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough has nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Picture it as a loose square. Lift up one side of the dough and fold about one-third of it across; press down on the dough with spread fingers to remove any air bubbles. Repeat with the remaining 3 sides of the dough.

Mist two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Divide the dough in half; roll out each half into an 8-inch square. Brush each square with vegetable oil, then sprinkle with the cinnamon and brown sugar.

Roll up each square of dough into a tight cylinder; place seam-side down in the prepared pans. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough fills the pans and springs back when touched, about 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush the loaves with canola oil and bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the pans and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

You can eat this bread up right away or to store it for toast over a week or two slice it and place in it a freezer bag and store in the freezer. When you want some toast pull it out and pop it in the toaster.

Baked Cod with Crunchy Lemon-Herb Topping

No. I didn't take this picture. Truth be told, pictures are the main reason I haven't been posting. I just can't be bothered to stop and take pictures while I'm cooking or even less-so when dinner is ready and I'm trying to get everything on the table. I don't know how those other bloggers do it! So, this picture is courtesy of Cook's Country, a more down-home version of Cook's Illustrated. I've made this a couple times and both times we really liked it. Ok. It has mayonnaise in it, but sometimes you just have to overlook those bits of country and get something quick and tasty on the table. At Trader Joe's I didn't see Cod Filets, but they did have Cod pieces, which actually worked fine...just be sure to keep and eye on them because they won't take as long to cook.

Baked Cod with Crunchy Lemon-Herb Topping

1 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
24 Ritz Crackers, crushed into coarse crumbs (I used Whole Wheat Ritz)
2 Tbsp. Minced Parsley, divided
3 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
2 sm. Garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. Lemon Zest
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
4 skinless Cod Filets (about 2 lbs)
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon wedges for serving (optional)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat over to 450 degrees. Grease baking sheet with butter. Toss cracker crubs and 1 Tbsp. parsley together in medium bowl. Mix remaining parsley, mayonnaise, garlic, lemon zest and lemon juice together in a small bowl.

Pat fish dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Place on buttered baking sheet, spacing pieces about 1/2 inch apart. Brush tops and sides of fish with mayonnaise mixture, the press cracker crumbs into mayonnaise.

Bake until crumbs are golden brown and fish flakes apart with fork, about 15 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

This is another goodie from Cook's Illustrated. I know it's not soup weather, but I wanted to post something so I went back into the archives...


2 Tbsp. Butter
2 lbs. Broccoli, chopped
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 cl. garlic, minced
1.5 tsp Dry Mustard Powder
Pinch Cayenne
Salt to taste
3-4 C. Water
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
2 C. Chicken Broth
2 C. Loosely Packed Baby Spinach
3/4 C. Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
3/4 C. Parmesan Cheese
Black Pepper to taste

Heat butter in a large stock pot over med-high heat. When foaming subsides, add broccoli onion, garlic, mustard, cayenne and 1 tsp. salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Add 1 C. water and baking soda. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until broccoli is very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring once during cooking.

Add broth and 2 C. water and increase heat to med-high. When mixture begins to simmer, stir in spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Use immersion blender to puree soup until smooth. Add cheeses and continue blending until cheese is melted and entirely incorporated. Return soup to a simmer. Adjust consistency of soup with up to 1 C. water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve, passing extra Parmesan separately.

Pad Thai Wraps

I found the original recipe for Pad Thai Wraps on the Whole Foods Ap. It was a start, but felt incomplete, so I added egg. It's super easy and has a nice fresh crunch.

Pad Thai Wraps

1/4 lb. Angel Hair Pasta
1/4 C. (plus more for the tortillas) Satay Peanut Sauce (Trader Joe's)
4 Tortillas
6 eggs
Red Bell Pepper
Bean Sprouts
1/4 C. Peanuts
4 lg leaves Basil

Prepare the pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile slice the red bell pepper and basil and chop the peanuts and set aside. Spray a medium skillet with cooking spray (or other oil/butter), and scramble the eggs over med-low heat then set aside. Warm the tortillas.

When pasta is cooked, drain and toss with 1/4 C. peanut sauce.

Spread each tortilla with a spoonful of the peanut sauce. Place 1/4 of the eggs on the center of the tortilla and top with pasta, bean sprouts, red peppers, basil and peanuts. Wrap up tightly in the tortilla, tucking in the ends halfway though.

Kale with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Trying to eat vegetables that are local and seasonal can force you into uncharted territory. Growing up I wasn't aware that kale was good for anything other than as a garnish. When I was pregnant with Aitan I met Christina at M Cafe de Chaya for lunch one day. It was on this day that kale entered my life as a food to be eaten and craved. So, I was thinking about it and wondered if someone had tried to knock off the recipe for the Kale in Spicy Peanut Sauce so I did a little search online. Even better, someone had attended a cooking class at M Cafe and posted the recipe on their blog. Score. I hope you like it as much as I do.




Kale with Spicy Peanut Dressing
• 1 large bunch kale
• ¼ cup peanuts, chopped for garnish
• ¼ red onion, halved and sliced for garnish

Spicy Peanut Dressing
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 ½ T just like honey (I'm not vegan so I just used honey)
• 2 T low sodium soy sauce
• 2 T brown rice vinegar (already had regular rice vinegar so I used that instead)
• ½ tsp. garlic, minced
• ½ tsp. ginger, minced
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 ½ oz hot water

Directions:
Remove the kale from the stems.

Add a pinch of Salt to a pot of boiling water, then blanch the Kale for 3 min. Remove the Kale from the boiling water and shock it in a container of ice water. Finally, squeeze the excess water out of the cooled Kale.
To make Spicy Peanut Dressing: Place all dressing ingredients into a blender. Blend until mixture turns into a smooth consistency.

Drizzle the dressing on top of the Kale and mix the kale and dressing together until kale is evenly coated. Garnish with sliced red onions and chopped peanuts. (As you can see I tossed in the onions and peanuts. One bunch of kale, although it was good size, seems a little too small as there was an excess of dressing. Next time I will do 1.5-2 bunches.)

Crispy Black Bean Tacos

Finding easy, yet tasty vegetarian meals that children will eat can be a challenge. I try a lot of different things and sometimes have a "keeper" as we call it. These Black Bean Tacos from Smitten Kitchen are super easy and with a few modifications super yummy. It just happened that I was given a package of the uncooked tortillas right before trying this recipe and they were so good with the fresh tortilla I can't imagine making them with the regular kind. I've been cooking most of my beans in the crockpot these days and freezing them in usable portions, so I'm not really buying canned beans, but you can do this with 2 cans of canned beans, rinsed and drained. The tacos turn out pretty large and I like to serve them with TJ's Sweet Potato Fries. For the boys I skip the slaw and feta and add a little cheddar.

Ingredients

3 C. Cooked Black Beans
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp. Chipotle Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. Granulated Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp. Fresh Lime Juice
dash Chipotle Tabasco
2 Tbsp. Sour Cream
2 C. Coleslaw Mix or finely shredded cabbage
2 Green Onions Thinly Sliced
1/3 C. Chopped Cilantro
4-5 Flour Tortillas (the uncooked kind are best)
1/3 C. Crumbled Feta

Instructions

Place drained beans, cumin, coriander, 1/2 tsp. Chipotle Tabasco, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl and partially mash.

Mix lime juice, dash of tabasco and sour cream in a small bowl. In a medium bowl add coleslaw mix, green onions, and cilantro. Toss with with dressing.

Heat tortilla on one side and then flip. Place beans and feta in the center of the tortilla and fold in half. Toast on each side until heated through and tortilla is crispy. Fill with slaw and serve.

Scratching an Itch I didn't know I had

Yesterday we met my sister and parents at the TruckIt Festival at Union Station for lunch. We perused the selection of 40 trucks before deciding on what to eat. Dad: Ragin Cajun. Scott and I (appetizer): Fresh Fries (meh). Mom: India Jones. Nina: Mandolin Grill (I ended up sharing with her). Ilan and Aitan: Tino's Pizza. Scott: Mandolin Grill. Mom and Nina: Crepes Bonaparte. Scott and I: Cool Haus.

It's happened once before. I was at the farmer's market in South Pasadena with Sophia and Liuba, when Sophia stopped to get dinner from "Dave's Gourmet." I took the sample they offered. A beige flat spongy looking thing with a wilted cucumber and a flavor explosion went off in my mouth. Tempeh with Spicy Cucumber. Amazing. I was pregnant with Aitan and this somehow satisfied a craving that I couldn't put my finger on.
So, yesterday when my sister ordered Banh Mi from Mandolin Grill I was curious to taste it because it sounded interesting. What I discovered was another taste that I knew I would not be able to resist. Sweet marinated meat, pickled vegetables on a bun. Mmmmm. I can still taste it.

Must be Umami.

Leek Bread Pudding

So, I posted on facebook early this week that Scott is officially smitten with Smitten Kitchen and this recipe (the original recipe plus lovely pictures) is just one of the many reasons. Scott loves onions and anything oniony, so when I saw this recipe with leeks I thought it would be worth a try. They didn't have brioche at Trader Joe's, so I used Challah, with the crust on (minimalist that I am), and I used approximate measurements. Mine didn't turn out as firm as hers, but regardless, I really liked the crispy outer bits, so I think I would prefer to do this is a shallow square baking dish so that there is more surface area to crisp up (I am one of those who likes the brownie edges, lasagna corners, and the crispy topping of casseroles). Below is the recipe with my edits and many less pictures. I'm finding that it is a challenge enough to get the goodies on the table without stopping for pictures, if you know what I mean. We used it as a vegetarian main dish with a nice salad.
Serves 6 as a side dish

3 leeks cut in 1/2-inch thick slices, white and light green parts only, cleaned and rinsed
Kosher or coarse salt
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper
8 cups 1-inch-cubed challah
2 teaspoons finely chopped chives (I forgot to buy these; it made me sad)
1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 large eggs
3 cups whole milk, heavy cream or half-and-half or a combination thereof
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss

Place a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, drain excess water from leeks, and add to pan. Season with salt, and sauté until leeks begin to soften, about 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in butter. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are very soft, about 20 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While leeks are cooking, spread bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake until dry and pale gold, about 15 to 20 minutes (my already-stale brioche took less time to brown), turning pan about halfway through. Transfer to a large bowl, leaving the oven on.

Add leeks, chives, thyme, and cheese to the bowl of bread; toss well. In another large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, then whisk in milk or cream, a generous pinch of salt, pepper to taste and a pinch of nutmeg.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons shredded cheese in bottom of a buttered square baking dish and pour in bread mixture. Pour in enough milk mixture to cover bread, and gently press on bread so milk soaks in. Let rest 15 minutes.Add remaining milk mixture, letting some bread cubes protrude. Sprinkle with salt. Bake until pudding is set and top is brown and bubbling, check at 30 minutes (I haven't tried it this way, but with a larger surface area you will need less cooking time. The original suggests 55-60 minutes.).

My Go-To Salad

So, Ms. Jessie at The Brown Bag is doing a salad-a-day challenge for February and I promised I try and put up some recipes for salads in the spirit of things. Unfortunately, I haven't had a salad each day this month, but I have for the last two days. Sigh. There's little incentive for salad around these parts: two kids that don't eat salad plus eating veg at home (ie eating lots of veggies). But I like salads and have kinda missed them. This week, I put salad on the menu.

The Dressing:
I tend to like sweet, vinegary dressings. I came across this one several years ago in the vegetarian grilling book. The salad itself had arugula, roasted red peppers, marinated and grilled shallots, pine nuts and feta. It actually was the marinade for the shallots, but I had a little extra leftover and used it as a dressing. Yum! So, it has become one of my staple salad dressings.

1/4 C. Olive Oil
1/4 C. Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Salt and Pepper to Taste

All you have to do is whisk it all together and toss it with your salad.

I feel like a good salad has a few major components: greens, mix-ins, crunch, and cheese.

The Greens
So, this is the thing. I don't really love the ranch on iceberg with carrots and mushrooms and a tomato. I mean, it has it's place, but I like my salads to have a little more personality. I usually go for spinach instead of lettuce - it's heartier and so full of nutrition. But you can do this with almost any type of leafy green. My second choice would be the "spring mix" or whatever they are calling it these days or arugula.

Mix-ins
Sounds like cold stone, eh? Well, this is the best part of making a salad. I look through the fridge to see what I have. I usually try to shy away from the typical carrots and celery and go for more interesting components: strawberries, blueberries, roasted red peppers, pears, apples, thinly sliced red onion, avocado, nice ripe grape tomatoes, dried fruit, hard-boiled eggs, bacon. I don't go wild here. Just a couple mix-ins. Maybe only one. If you want to make it a entree salad you can also mix in leftover chicken or whatever meat you have.

Crunch
This would be what croutons are usually for, but I have a hard time with croutons. You can't puncture them with your fork that well and if you can't do that then you have to try and balance them on your fork with the other salad components. I usually just end up eating them alone and I think that really misses the point. I typically will go for nuts of some sort: pine nuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews - all toasted. But, you can use anything that sounds good to achieve the crunch. Some other ideas might be chow mein noodles, tortilla chips, fried onions...

Nuts are also great candied: heat the 1/3 C. nuts in a small frying pan until fragrant. Sprinkle with sugar (a tablespoon or so) and stir until the sugar is melted and the nuts are browned. Remove from heat and spread on wax paper that has been sprayed with non-stick spray until cool.

Cheese
I like cheese in my salads. Depending on the other ingredients I might use shredded parmesan, chopped mozzarella, feta, blue, gorgonzola, smoked gouda. I don't really like chevre so I wouldn't use it, but it would probably work well, too, if you like it.


So here are some of my favorite mix-in, crunch, cheese combinations to go with the dressing and greens.

Blueberries, parmesan and candied nuts or pine nuts
Strawberries, blue cheese, almonds
Pears, blue cheese, candied walnuts
Roasted red peppers, feta, pine nuts
Roasted red peppers, tomato, mozzarella, fried onions (the kind you use for green bean casserole)

Pesto Trapanese

Is it right to post a recipe from another food blog on my food blog? I don't know. Consider it a review. I wanted to make something with tomatoes because I bought a bunch of tomatoes a couple weeks ago to make the tomato sauce for jachnun (thanks to Ruti and her amazing recipe), but because of births didn't even end up making the jachnun. So 8 tomatoes and two weeks later I was thinking I better use them before they end up rotting in my fridge. Sorry for the lovely picture I've painted. This is where, once again, smitten kitchen comes to the rescue. I love that she has a listing of recipes by food item. Browsing through the tomato section I fell upon this little gem. I don't think there is anything I would change about it. It was easy and yummy.

Linguine with Tomato-Almond Pesto [Pesto Trapenese]
Adapted from Gourmet

3/4 cup slivered almonds
1 large handful fresh basil leaves
1 to 2 large garlic cloves
Several sprinkles of sea salt
6 ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
1 pound linguine

In a large skillet, sauté the almonds in a little olive oil until toasted. Let cool, then blend them in a food processor or blender until they are in coarse pieces. (“The size of orzo,” the original recipe suggests.) Scoop them out of the processor and set them aside.

Put the basil, garlic and a few pinches of sea salt into the food processor and chop. Add the almonds back to the food processor (keeping them separate will keep them from getting too finely chopped as you get the basil and garlic to the right texture) with the tomatoes, cheese and olive oil and whirl briefly. Season it with freshly ground black pepper.

Cook your linguine until it is al dente and could use another minute of cooking time. Reserve one cup of pasta cooking water and drain the rest. Immediately toss the hot linguine with the pesto and mix quickly so that it drinks the sauce up a bit. Add more pasta water if needed. Serve this lukewarm, or at room temperature, with a glass of wine, after you get the baby to bed.

Foods with Booze

The theme for supper club this month was foods with booze in them. Yum! Ironically the girl bringing the drinking booze got caught in traffic and turned home so we didn't have any fancy drinks. Oh well. I love supper club.

Tequila Lime Shrimp (Shannon)

Beer Bread (me)
Sherry Roasted Root Vegetables (Nina)
Jack in the Beans (Gigi)
Amaretto Chicken (Sara)
Champagne Cake (Angela)

Artisan Bread

Tamie always posts the most amazing pictures of her handy home-making endeavors and totally captured my interest with a picture of artisan bread she recently posted. She introduced me to the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, which I immediately put on hold at the library. Several years ago I played around with artisan bread from a starter with Nancy Silverstein's Breads from the La Brea Bakery. The bread was great, but it took work...work to keep a starter and several days to actually make a loaf of bread. The basic idea for this book is to use the chemical properties of the ingredients to make a fantastic loaf of bread with minimal effort - not even kneading. Plus, you make enough dough for 4 one lb loaves at a time, so all you have to do is pull of a little dough and shape your loaf when you're ready to bake. I'm still working out some of the kinks, but the bread has been great. Next week I am going to try my first whole wheat loaf.

Due to the length of the recipe I am just going to explain the basic process and trust that you will go and get the book if you're interested. There are two by the way. The original as posted above and a "Healthy" bread in 5 book.

To start you mix lukewarm water, yeast, and salt in a large tub and mix in the flour until it is combined and there are no pockets of flour (a minute or two). The dough will be really wet. Cover loosly and let rise for 2 hours. Refrigerate at least 3 hours (so dough is easier to handle).
When you're ready to make bread pull of a small amount of dough and quickly shape into a round. Let is rise for about an hour on a pizza peel (you can see mine is a cutting board) liberally dusted with cornmeal (I have it on hand for the polenta anyway).Preheat a baking stone or cookie sheet in the oven and place a broiler pan on the rack below the bread. Sprinkle bread with flour and slash (to prevent blow-outs). Quickly jerk bread from "peel" to hot baking stone and pour 1 C. hot water into broiler pan. Close oven door and bake.

Allow bread to cool and devour!



Addendum 2/9/11: I just made my first loaf that is what I wanted visually. The bread has been mighty tasty, but the shape has just been off. So I tried shaping it much more loosely and I think it gave the bread more room to rise up (instead of out).

Honey Walnut Tofu with Broccoli

Didn't have a plan for dinner tonight, so I started thinking about what I had in the fridge. I didn't have a chance to do real meal planning this week so I just bought a bunch of stuff that I figured I would use somehow - broccoli included, and the tofu was left from a dinner I had planned but didn't end up cooking. Scott suggested Tofu with Broccoli ala Beef with Broccoli style, but I didn't have oyster sauce (why don't I have oyster sauce?). So in my search for the tofu with broccoli the recipe for Honey-Walnut Tofu with Broccoli came up. Honey-Walnut with Shrimp is a big hit with my family and every time we go to Fu-Shing it is a given that we will order it. So, I thought I'd give it a try. Ilan fussed that we were eating Tofu (although almost every time I fix it he eats it all up - especially in a sweet asian preparation - see Spicy Orange Tofu), but he cleared his plate, well as much as Ilan does anyway. Aitan, who is increasing in disinterest in food also gobbled it up. The original recipe is in the link above, the modified is below.


Honey Walnut Tofu with Broccoli

INGREDIENTS
1 block extra-firm tofu drained
¼ cup honey
1/3 cup milk (I used almond milk)
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 TBSP cornstarch
2 tsp lemon juice
1 TBSP soy sauce (original recipe calls for 2, but I think it is overpowering)
2 TBSP peanut oil (I used cooking spray for the tofu and 1 Tbsp Grapeseed oil for the veggies)
1 large head broccoli chopped
½ cup walnuts
4 servings of cooked rice

DIRECTIONS

Drain tofu: wrap the block of tofu in a towel and cover with a weight. Allow it to sit 30 minutes.

In small mixing bowl whisk milk, mayo, cornstarch, lemon juice, honey, and soy sauce until smooth. Set aside.

Cut block of tofu into bite-size cubes. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu, turning frequently, so it becomes golden brown on all sides. Using a spatula, remove tofu from skillet and place on paper towels.

Place walnuts and broccoli in the skillet. Stir-fry, stirring frequently, until broccoli is tender-crisp. Drain any excess oil from the skillet.

Add tofu back to the skillet and pour the sauce over it. Stir over low heat for 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice.

Yield: serves 4