Whole Lotta Guac!

Here is the recipe for my fiance Joshie's special guacamole:

6 ripened avocados
2 tablespoons of cilantro
2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves minced
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper

Optional: lime juice to taste, chopped tomatoes

Warmly,
Stephie

Hillary's Birthday Dessert

Bread Bakin' in Wisconsin

Since we've moved to Madison and I've stopped working at Zingerman's Bakehouse, we've needed bread that can live up to our now higher standards. We hadn't bought pre-sliced, cheap sandwich bread since I started at the Bakehouse, and it was depressing to think that's what we were going to go back to. So I found a very simple recipe for a round of bread. It requires no kneading but about 20 hours from start to finish. This recipe is one of Mark Bittman's, adapted from a New York bakery.

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 5/8 cups water

Combine all dry ingredients in bowl. Add water. Mix with hand. Dough will be sticky, shaggy, not much like dough. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit 12-18 hours. (I've gone 15-18 hours so far; the dough should have bubbles all over the top.) Fold the dough twice. Let sit 15 minutes in bowl, loosely covered. Shape dough into a ball. Place seam side down on a well-floured dishtowel (cotton but not terry cloth). Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough, cover with another dishtowel. Let sit for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for at least 1/2 hour, along with the baking dish. The baking dish should be a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic). Use the towels to transfer the dough into the pot, seam side down. Don't worry if it doesn't yet look perfect, it will even out while baking. Bake for 30 minutes with the cover on; remove the cover and bake for an additional 15-30 minutes (though I've noticed I've only needed to bake it for another 5-10 minutes) until it becomes a nice caramelized brown color.

Here's a video to watch to help make sense of it all:


And here's a picture of me with one of my loaves:

Noodles For Chinese New Year

Potato and Corn Cowder

Here is a simplified version of this recipe from Peggy Lampman's Dinner Feed website, recipes which also appear on annarbor.com. In her recipe she roasts the corn and adds garnish, which no doubt would add to it, but this simpler version was good and went a long way.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 onion, chopped (3 cups)
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
1 1/2 pounds yukon gold potatoes washed and cut into 1-inch cubes
5 vegetable stock
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 chopped chili pepper
2-3 pounds frozen corn* or 4 cups fresh corn kernels
Splash of hot sauce (your choice, we used chipotle)


Directions

1. In a large pot, heat oil over low heat. Sauté onions, with a pinch of salt, 5 minutes or until just tender and fragrant. Stir in potatoes, stock, garlic; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.

2. Continue simmering soup until potatoes are tender. With blender, purée half of soup. Stir in corn. Simmer until corn is just heated through, about 3 minutes.

Rock Lobster Bisque

Here's a lobster bisque recipe that may have a slightly unconventional flavor, I replaced cognac with beer, based on what I had around. Turned out to be pretty delicious anyway.



8 ounces chopped, cooked lobster meat (fresh or canned)
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup flour
3 cups half and half
3/4 cup of beer
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1-12 ounce can diced tomatoes (including liquid)
1 clove chopped garlic
1 diced onion
1 tablespoon basil

1. Heat olive oil in saucepan, saute onion and garlic.
2. Puree tomatoes (with liquid), lobster base, and 1/2 cooked onion and garlic. Set aside.
3. Add lobster and beer to remaining 1/2 onion and garlic. Let simmer 3-4 minutes.
4. In a separate saucepan melt butter, add mixture of flour, cayenne pepper and pepper, stirring constantly until until it clumps up.
5. Add tomato puree flour mixture, mix well so that flour mixture gets broken up.
6. Gradually add cream, while stirring, until sauce thickens and is well mixed.
7. Stir in lobster mix and basil. Stir occasionally on low heat for 10 minutes.

The Mac Dad Will Make Ya....

Ingredients
Salt & Pepper
2.5 Cups of Milk
2 Bay Leaves
1 Pound Elbow Pasta
4 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons Flour
1.5 Cups Grated Cheese (Cheddar is good)
.5 Cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs

Steps

1. This first step is optional. I made my own bread crumbs. It was simple. Tear up stale bread, put it in a food processor, and chop until you have fine crumbs.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring large pot of water to boil and add salt.

3. Cook the milk with the bay leaves in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until small bubbles show up on the side of the pot. Then take off heat and set off to the side.

4. Cook the pasta until it is almost tender. Then drain it and rinse it with cold water to stop its cooking. Put off to side in large bowl.

5. In a small saucepan melt 3 tablespoons of butter over med-low heat. When it's foamy, add flour and cook, stirring until the mixtures browns. Remove the bay leaves from the milk, pour half a cup of milk into the flour mixture, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add the rest of the milk, while continuing to stir. Continue to stir until it is thick and smooth. Then stir in the cheddar cheese.

6. Pour the cheese sauce over the noodles, toss in the Parmesan cheese, and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Use the remaining butter to grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Put the pasta mixture in the baking pan, sprinkle liberally with bread crumbs. Bake until bubbling, with the crumbs turning brown, about 15 minutes.



If you are a daddy mack or a mack daddy, you will eat this with hot sauce. word!

"Senegal Fast Food"

Amadou & Mariam - «Senegal Fast Food»
Uploaded by DMagalhaes. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Peanut Soup, Senegalese Style

3/4 cup roasted and shelled peanuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion
1 tablespoon peeled and minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper
6 cups of stock or water
2 sweet potatoes (1 lb), peeled and cut into thick slices
8 - 12 plum tomatoes - cored & halved, or canned (drain juice)
1/2 pound kale, washed and cut into thick strips
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

Step 1
Use food processor to break peanuts into large pieces.

Step 2
Put oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onions, ginger, and garlic until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add peanuts, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Then stir in stock/water and sweet potatoes. Bring to boil, turn heat down to gentle simmer. Partially cover and cook until potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes.

Step 3
Stir in tomatoes, kale, and peanut butter. Cover and cook until kale is tender, 5-10 minutes. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Wajah Nasi (Rice Face)

Culinary art, made by my language tutor in Malang, East Java, Indonesia

Almond Tart

Nouns:
2 Pie Crust
2.5 Cups Almonds
6 Eggs
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
Powdered Sugar For Dusting

Verbs:

• Pre-bake the pie crusts.
  
• Use food processor to grind 1.5 cups of the almonds to a powder. Take out those almonds and use to food processor to quickly chop the rest of the almonds.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and light in color (here I used an electric mixer). Then stir in cinnamon, lemon zest, and almonds.
• Pour into pie crusts
• Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees, until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Cool on rack.
• If you have a spring-form pan, take off the sides and dust the top with powdered sugar
  

In the end, the best judge of this desert is that it was eaten quickly. Its not too sweet and, compared to many other desserts, seems to be pretty guilt-free. Best served with the most recent episode of Mad Men (episode 7, season 4, "The Suitcase") and a glass of Glenlivet scotch.

Spicy Red Lentil Dal

This is a Vegetarian Times recipe that Wes and I have been making quite often lately. It's easy, yummy, inexpensive, and goes a long way. We follow the recipe exactly but often use green onions because that's what we tend to have on hand. We eat it over rice and especially like to pair it with India bread (from TJ's frozen section). Enjoy!!

Ingredient List
Serves 6
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup red lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 medium-sized onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1/2 cup light coconut milk
2 tsp. fresh lime juice

Directions
1. Bring broth and lentils to a boil in pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover and
simmer 10 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Cover, and remove from heat.
2. Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and red pepper flakes; sauté 5 minutes.
Add cumin, turmeric and coriander; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add tomato paste, and cook 3
minutes, stirring constantly. Add coconut milk and lentils, and cook 3 minutes more.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in lime juice. Serve over rice.

Canning!

In addition to making an award-winning blueberry pie from my handpicked Indiana blueberries, I made and canned some blueberry jam. This was my first time canning anything, and from what I read, things can get pretty complicated with fancy equipment and sterilization procedures. I just stayed low tech and followed the Sure Jell cooked jam recipe that came in the box of Sure Jell pectin.

I made 6 jars of jam at a time, ending up with 24 jars, which took a little less than 10 pounds of blueberries. As it turned out, making jam was much easier than I had expected, just a little time-consuming.

Blueberry Jam

3 pints of blueberries
4 c sugar
1 packet of Sure Jell pectin
6 half pint canning jars

Wash the jars, lids, and bands in hot soapy water. Pour boiling water over the jars and let sit until ready to use. Wash blueberries, crush one cup at a time; do not puree. Measure out sugar but do not add. Put blueberries in large saucepan, add pectin. Stir well; bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar quickly, stir well. Return to full rolling boil for one minute. Ladle into prepared jars to within 1/8-in of tops. Place jars in large saucepan, fill with water until tops are covered. Bring to boil, boil for 10 minutes. Remove jars and place upright on a towel and cool. After cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, it is not sealed and will need refrigeration.) Store unopened jam in dark, dry, cool place for up to 1 year. Yields 6 half pint jars.

Pie Lovers....Unite!

This past weekend, a good amount of the family came to visit me in Ann Arbor to go to the Slow Food Huron Valley 4th Annual Pie Festival (more info here). Admission was one pie per person or $7 for a ticket. I made four pies, of course, because that's more fun than paying for four tickets! Among the pies I made was a blueberry pie, made from blueberries picked in Indiana the weekend before. The pie festival included the composition and reading of 'pie-ku's, a pie walk, pie tastings, and pie judging. Here are some examples of our pie-kus (their authors will remain nameless):

Shoefly, coconut,
Mincemeat, pear, shepherd's, pizza,
It's all pie to me!

Golden sugar crust
Lots of berries creates lust
Taste, a certain must

Pie lovers unite
Seventy pies here tonight
Love is in the air

I like pie it's good.
I mainly like the sweet pies.
Pies smell really good.

The highlight of the night was the pie judging. All pies were entered in the contest, which I didn't realize would happen when I was making my pies. The blueberry pie was my brother's admission, so he registered it with both our names. When the judges announced the winner of the fruit pie category, that's what they announced! We both went up to receive our prize and we had to explain how the collaboration worked. My brother, honestly, explained that I made the pie and he just put his name on it. Everyone laughed as we walked away with our prize of a handcarved pie server. Below is the prize-winning recipe. It's very easy.

Blueberry Pie

3/4 c sugar
3 T cornstarch
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
4 c fresh blueberries
1 recipe for 9-in double crust pie (or store bought crust)
1 T butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over berries. Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into crust. Dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 - 3/4-in wide strips and make lattice top. Crimp and flute edges. Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

I made delicious-ness!

For a friend's birthday dinner, I made a Raspberry Truffle Tart. Like the acorn squash recipe, it also looks fancy, but is a comparatively easy dessert. I got the recipe from the Joy of Baking website, to which I frequently turn for good dessert recipes. The filling is to-die-for, seriously.

Raspberry Truffle Tart

Biscotti Crust
8 oz. store bought biscotti, broken into pieces
5-6 T butter, melted

Filling
1/3 c raspberry sauce (recipe follows)
10 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 c heavy whipping cream

Raspberry Sauce
1 c fresh or frozen raspberries
2 T white sugar


Preheat oven to 350. Have a 8- or 9-inch fluted tart pan ready. Place broken up biscotti in food processor and process until finely ground. Transfer to bowl, add butter, stir to combine. Press into tart pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before adding filling.
Place raspberries in food processor until broken up. Pour into strainer, set over bowl, press raspberries to extract juice. Add sugar to juice to taste. Set aside.
Place chopped chocolate in heat-proof bowl. Set aside. Heat heavy whipping cream in small saucepan until it just boils. Pour over chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Add 1/3 c of raspberry sauce to chocolate. Pour filling into baked and cooled crust. Refrigerate overnight (or, do as I did and put it in the freezer for a super fast chilling session so you can eat it that evening).

Acorns for Dinner

A couple of weeks ago, I made rice-stuffed acorn squash for dinner. It's really easy, but looks fancy, and, if it's too hot to use the oven, you can just put the squash in the microwave. One squash serves two and it's very filling.

Ingredients
1 acorn squash
2/3 peas
1 cup cooked rice
1/4 t basil
1/4 t parsley
1/8 t salt
1/8 t pepper
2 T shredded Parmesan cheese

Halve the squash lengthwise, scrape out seeds. Place cut side down on plate and microwave for 5-7 minutes or more until tender. Cook peas in small amount of water in small saucepan. Drain, add rice, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir in cheese. Fix centers of squash with hot rice mixture. Serve.

Ice + Coffee Does Not An Iced Coffee Make

Nothing marks summer for me as much as sitting outside a cafe drinking iced coffee. Yet, if you order iced coffee from enough places, you quickly noticed that there are places that serve delicious iced coffee and others that serve essentially a cup of coffee poured over ice. The difference? Admittedly until this summer I was in the dark about this, but the key is cold-brewed coffee.

Below is the recipe, if you can call it that, that I got from this 2007 NYTimes article.

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse grind is best)
Milk (optional).

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If desired, add milk.

I just used coffee filters for the straining and it came out tasting just like iced coffee in good cafes, bringing out the lighter and sweeter flavors that are completely overpowered if you brew that coffee normally. For a fuller explanation of why, see this NYTimes article.

Next up on the iced coffee agenda: Vietnamese Iced Coffee.

Breakfast Puffs

When my sister and I were younger, we had the American Girls cookbooks. We loved choosing recipes from them, biking to the grocery store, and cooking surprises for our mom. One of her favorites was breakfast puffs. She requested them for a Mother's Day brunch I made for her, so I had to go back to the source, the original Felicity cookbook. It was a trip down memory lane. Here is the recipe, scanned from the book. Click on the graphics to enlarge so the recipe is readable.

Childbirth Preparation Class Recipes

For the past 6 weeks, I have been volunteering at a local childbirth class to get involved in working with expecting couples and midwifery. My main job is to bring a healthy snack for class participants to enjoy during the class. I've been enjoying this responsibility because it allows me to get my baking urge out of my system, but Steve and I don't have to eat all of my (perhaps) not-so-healthy baked goods. I'm going to post most of these recipes, though I forgot to take pictures while baking. I apologize, but this is going to be a monster post. :)

Week 2
Carrot Bread
I got a lot of compliments on this bread. A day after it has been baked, the flavors are more defined.

3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 oil
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
pinch salt
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Grease loaf pan. In large bowl, beat sugars and oil. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl while stirring continuously. Beat eggs, gradually add to batter until combined. Mix in carrots, pecans, and vanilla. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 60 minutes until done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out on rack to cool completely.

Week 3
Yogurt Fruit Dip
Or, as one of the women at the class called it, "Ambrosia, food of the gods."

1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine all ingredients. Beat until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Makes 2 cups of dip. For dipping, I supplied oranges, apples, and grapes.

Week 4
Apple Butter and Baguettes
This was a big hit, which I appreciated, since I spent an hour and a half stirring it while talking on the phone to my mom. It turned out to be worth it. The baguette recipe is also on this blog, so I won't put it up twice.

4 lbs. of good cooking apples (Granny Smith, Gravenstein, etc.)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups water
about 4 cups sugar (see instructions)
salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Juice of one lemon

Cut apples into quarters without peeling or coring (much of the pectin is in the core and flavor in the peels), cut out damaged parts. Put into large pot, add water and vinegar. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Ladle apple mixture into chinois sieve, food mill, or potato ricer, forcing the pulp into a bowl below. Measure resulting puree; add half cup sugar for each cup resulting pulp. Stir to dissolve sugar, add dash of salt, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and lemon juice. Cook uncovered in large, thick-bottomed pot on medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Cook til thick and smooth when spooned out onto a cold plate and allowed to cool (about 1-2 hours). Makes about 3 pints.

Week 5
Orange-Spice Granola Bars
I think these were a class favorite -- people requested the recipe and one woman said she may have them as a snack while she's in labor. That seems like an endorsement to me. First you make the Crunchy Granola, then you use the Crunchy Granola to make the granola bars.

Crunchy Granola (from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman)

6 cups rolled oats

2 cups mixed nuts and seeds (i.e. sunflower seeds, chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc.)

1 cup shredded coconut

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash salt

½ to 1 cup honey

Preheat oven to 300ºF. Put a 9 x 13-inch roasting pan over medium-low heat (over two burners if convenient). Add the oats and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to change color and become fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Add the nuts and seeds and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the coconut and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more. Add the cinnamon, salt, and sweetener, stir, and put in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cool on a rack, continuing to stir once in a while until the granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container.

Orange-Spice Granola Bars (also from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman)

¾ cup honey

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup oil

3 cups Crunchy Granola (see above recipe)

1 cup chocolate chips

1 tablespoon chopped orange zest

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon cloves

Put the honey, brown sugar, oil, orange zest, and spices in a small pot and bring to a boil. Put the granola in a large bowl and pour the sugar mixture over the top while mixing; stir until granola is well coated. Add chocolate chips and mix well. Press into an 8- or 9-inch square pan and let cool in the fridge. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve. Yields a dozen bars.

Week 6
Cinnamon Raisin Muffins
The glaze is the best part!

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 oil
1 egg
1 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1/2 powdered sugar
2 teaspoons skim milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. In small bowl, combine egg, oil, and milk. Pour liquid ingredients into dry. Mix until just moistened. Fold in cinnamon and raisins. Pour batter into muffin cups and bake 20 minutes. Mix powdered sugar and milk. Let glaze thicken. Drizzle over muffins when cooled.

Homemade Apple Pie

It's cliche, I know, but sometimes you just get a craving for a childhood favorite, like my Grandma's homemade apple pie. It's a fairly simple recipe, though it does involve some manual labor in peeling and slicing apples (the thinner the slices, the better it is!). But, it's well worth it when you taste how much better it is than store bought pie.



Ingredients:

-5-6 tart apples, such as Granny Smiths
-lemon juice (optional)
-1 deep dish pie crust
-1 cup sugar (divided)
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-3/4 cup flour
-1/3 cup butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Make a simple pie crust or take out your store-bought one from the freezer :)

Peel, core, and slice apples thinly. (Since this takes a while, I sprinkle a little lemon juice over the sliced apples so they don't oxidize and turn brown as quickly.) Arrange apples inside pie crust. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over apples.

In a separate bowl, make the topping. Stir together the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with the flour and cut in the butter. (Make sure the butter is cold, or this will be difficult.) Sprinkle the topping on the pie. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream-- yum!

Note-- this pie will be heaping with apples, even in a deep dish pie plate. They will cook down some, but you might want to put a sheet pan or foil under your pie plate in the oven to catch any juice that spills over.

Food Bloggers of the World Unite! You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Grains!

The Michigan Daily, my school's student newspaper, ran an article today on the joys of food blogging. The money line: "People do read them, and they can grow more powerful than our wildest imaginations."

Keep up the good work you Food Stories warriors!