Archives for the 'blog event' Category
Dorie’s great grain muffins…a taste of yellow
You know how much I love strawberry scones, right? Well, even though I haven’t made them as often as I did last year, I still make them…or at least I intend to. On Sunday I fully intended to make scones using Dorie Greenspan’s recipe…but then I remembered all the pain au chocolat that I’ve been eating because Cameron has been turning out such perfect delights lately, and then I thought about the baquette and butter splurge I went on the other evening, and I said to myself “hmmm, you need more whole grains”. Of course Dorie had the answer in the form of her great grain muffins.
A good muffin can be really good, but a bad muffin is often no better than a doorstop. Back in the 80’s I bought Jane Brody’s Good Food Book and learned a lot about whole grain cooking but as usual for me I went overboard…the details are unclear now but what I do remember is that the muffins I made were really dense (like a hockey puck) and heavy and I’m sure they had no resemblance to anything in Jane Brody’s book. The worst part is that I actually gave them to people to eat…I had no frame of reference on what a good muffin should be since I’d never made muffins before and honestly there were no muffins in my background…it wasn’t something my mom ever made.
These muffins are the good kind. They rise up with a nice perky little domes, their texture is good, they’re not heavy or dense…but they are satisfying. I chose to add dried cranberries and pistachios and I think it was a good choice. The colors add some interest and the flavors are well matched. 
Speaking of color…this post is my entry into the Taste of Yellow blogging event hosted by Barbara over at Winos and Foodies. I doubt that there is anyone who hasn’t been touched by cancer in some way and LIVESTRONG Day is the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s one-day initiative to raise awareness and funds for the cancer fight. LIVESTRONG Day 2008 will occur on Tuesday, May 13.
Great Grains Muffins
adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan
printer-friendly recipe
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pistachios
Preheat the oven to 400° and butter a 12 count muffin tin or line the cups with paper muffin cups.
Combine the flours, cornmeal, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine. In another bowl combine the milk, yogurt, syrup, sugar, eggs, and butter. Whisk to combine. Add the cranberries and pistachios to the dry mixture. Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture making sure to only stir enough to combine…don’t over-stir. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes. Gently remove the muffins and allow them to cool, or eat them right away…that’s what we do!
Weekend herb blog No. 109 - recap
I can’t believe all the good food that my fellow herb bloggers made this past week…you’re a busy group. This was a tough job because every time I sat down to work on the recap I got hungry.
Basil
- Marinated baby bocconci with proscuito from Pam’s blog The Backyard Pizzeria
- Roasted Tomato Soup with Ground Beef, Sausage, Garbanzos, Macaroni, and Basil from Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen (creator and Queen of WHB)
- Seared Scallops over Baby Greens & Apple Cider Vinaigrette from Ruth at Once Upon A Feast
- Penang gai from Kevin’s Closet Cooking
Pam’s offering would make a great appetizer for thanksgiving, Kalyn’s cooking is so healthy yet totally tasty looking, Ruth’s luscious looking greens are accenting some perfect scallops, and Kevin’s thai curry looks delicate but I bet it packs a punch.
Bay
- Tomato, Chorizo and Chickpea Stew from Y at Lemonpi
- Chicken etouffee from me here at What Geeks Eat
Y’s bay is fresh and homegrown, while mine is dried.
Beets
- Spicy beets and peas curry from Kalva at Curry in Kadai
- Roasted Beets with Celery Root Skordalia from Laurie at Tastes Like Home
Kalva claims you can’t beet (and she’s funny too) her recipe and Laurie’s recipe for skordalia made from celery root sounds intriguing.
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots from Sarah at Cucina Bella
- Chinese cabbage salad from Gretchen at Canela & Comino
- Minestrone from Kate at Thyme for cooking
- Orecchiette With Rapini and Crispy Bread Crumbs from Peter at Kalofagas - Pursuit of Delicious Foods
Sarah featured tiny little cabbages enhanced by bacon and shallots, Gretchen taught me about sacha inchi oil which is very high in omega 3, Kate revealed she can’t help herself…she’s compelled tomake huge pots of soup (so am I!), and Peter made my favorite kind of food…quick, easy, inexpensive but luxurious in taste and texture, and healthy.
Chestnuts
- Herbed Chestnut Dressing or Stuffing from Eva at The Chocolate Lady
- Roasted chestnuts from Genie at The Inadvertent Gardener
Eva gives us a timely dressing recipe and Genie gives us the lowdown on chestnuts and roasting them.
Chive, dill, onion, spinach and green chili
- Chive bread from Jennifer at Like To Cook
- Cipolline Borettane con Prosciutto and Aceto Balsamico from Haalo at Cook Almost Anything
- Celery roots in olive oil from Isil at Veggie Way
- Spinach, cheese and walnut baked risotto from Patricia at Technicolor Kitchen
- Pork and chili stirfry from Gay at A Scientist In The Kitchen
Jennifer has a great idea to add fresh herbs to bread…something I never remember to do, Haalo shows off some perfect little dense onions with proscuitto and balsamic, Isil uses dill as a subtle yet perfect accent to the celery root flavor, Patricia give us a rich risotto that is actually baked thus making it so much easier, and Gay gives us pork and chilis…what’s not to love.
Oregano
- Stuffed mushrooms from Elizabeth’s Blog From Our Kitchen
- Chicken-Apple Franks With Tomato Relish from Sher at What Did You Eat
- Halibut with White Wine and Oregano from Katerina’s Daily Unadventures In Blogging
Elizabeth’s tidy and versatile stuffed mushrooms will make a great starter to the Thanksgiving feast, Sher came up with the perfect lunch from a chore of cleaning her freezer, and Katerina’s delicate white fish is accented with the vibrant flavor of fresh oregano.
Porcini, prunes, and pumpkin
- Porcinis on toast from Anna’s blog Anna’s Cool Finds
- Roast pork with apples and prunes from Anna’s Morsels & Musings
- Pumpkin curry from Manisha’s Indian Food Rocks
Anna’s porcinis are simple, rich, and I envy her bountiful cache of fungi, the other Anna’s offering is a perfect pairing of pork with prunes and apples, and Manisha gives us pumpkin potato curry with spices guaranteed to warm you right up.
Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme
- Rosemary lamb with sweet potatoes from Windy at Windy’s Food Corner
- Chorizo and Squash Soup from Annemarie at Ambrosia and Nectar
- Vegan Sage Chili from Katrina at Cabbage and Kings
- Tourtiere (Meat Pie) from Mike at Mike’s Table
- Maple and black pepper chicken from Andrea at Andrea’s Recipes
- Roasted Chicken with Mediterranean Vegetables from Pam at Sidewalk Shoes
Windy’s roasted lamb is enticing and heart, Annemarie gives us an recipe for squash soup that wakes up the palate, Katrina’s chili is sure to warm, Mike’s meat pie…oh heavens, what a treat, Andrea’s pan sauce flavored with shallots and thyme puts her chicken over-the-top, and Pam’s chicken is a natural with that thyme.
Vanilla
Wicked way cocktail from Gwen at Intoxicated Zodiac…Gwen provides a much needed drinkipoo for all my hard blogging work.
Uncategorized
- Jennifer at A Lifetime of Cooking gave me so much information I couldn’t categorize her post…way to go Jennifer! I too adore Elizabeth David’s books.
- Susan at The Well Seasoned Cook gives us her Swedish Stuffed Potatoes and they look interesting.
- Jerry’s Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto with Cornmeal Encrusted Shrimp also deserves a peek.
That’s it folks…thanks to Kalyn for creating and nurturing this event and to all the participants…now I need that drink. The host for November 19 - November 25 WHB #110 is Truffle from What’s on My Plate. Send your entries to roshena (at) gmail (dot) com
Mushroom galette
Yesterday as I drove the boys to school I noticed a thin scrim of ice on the pond across the road, and the hills and the fields were frosted white. Today, at the season’s last Westside Community Market, I picked up some gorgeous shitakes, cranberries, romanesco, and keepsake apples. Although I’ll miss the friendly faces of my community market I’m fortunate to have the Northside Winter Market and the DCFM Winter Market. GH warns me that snow showers are in the forecast for next week so I’m sure I’ll be grateful for the indoor warmth.
This mushrooms galette is a simple dinner but it does require some chopping and sauteing. Since I was chilled, and the hot apple cider and brandy hadn’t totally warmed me up, it was an activity that suited me just fine. I included a layer of those heavenly purple potatoes, a light layer of caramelized onions, a substantial layer of rosebud goat cheese followed by an equally robust layer of shitakes, and finally just a scattering of bell pepper and garlic all wrapped up in my standard galette crust (sans the sugar).
I served a composed salad of raw chioggia beet, romanesco, daikon, and dried cranberries each tossed in a dijon vinaigrette. It was tart, bitter, sweet, and toothsome…very enjoyable. I love the earthy flavor of beets and according to Wikipedia that flavor is caused by an organic compound in beets called geosmin, which literally translates to “earth smell”. Apparently we humans are very sensitive to geosmin…were able to smell it at concentrations as slight as 5 parts per trillion. I think this might explain why you either love beets or hate them.
This dinner was a big hit and GH thinks the leftover galette will make a tasty lunch come Monday. This post is part of Kalyn’s Weekend Herb Blog Event…hosted this week by Kalyn herself. I get the honor to host WHB for the week of November 12 - 18. Check out the rules and schedule and join us.
Here’s the recipe…click on the title to get a printer-friendly version.
Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup coarse ground cornmeal
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, diced
3 to 4 ounces milk with a teaspoon or so of yogurt mixed in
Put the flour, cornmeal, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with its blade. Process a second or two to combine. Add the diced, cold butter and pulse 3 or 4 times or until worked in coarsely. Add the milk/yogurt combo and pulse as you do it…only adding as much liquid as is necessary to get the dough to ball up. Remove the dough, wrap in saran, chill.
1 pound of fresh shitake mushrooms
1 small or medium onion
1 small bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
2 medium, waxy type, potatoes
Firm goat cheese
Peel the potatoes, place them in a pan with ½” of salted water. Bring the water to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer. Cover the pan and steam them for 15 minutes. Remove them from the pan and set them aside to cool.
Peal and chop the onion into slices. Sauté the onions on medium low heat until they brown and caramelize. remove from the pan and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
If your mushrooms need to be wiped off do so. Cut the stems off (I stash these in the freezer in my stock cache) and slice the mushrooms into strips. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the sauté pan on medium-low and add the mushrooms. Salt them and allow them to cook down for 5 – 10 minutes, stirring as necessary. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Cut the top of the bell pepper off and slice it into thin rounds. Remove any trace of white pith on the slices. Sauté these with salt on medium high…ad some olive oil if necessary. Remove from pan once they soften some. Set aside.
Bash the garlic and peel it. Slice it into thin slices. Sauté as above on low heat for a few minutes. Remove from pan.
Slice the cooled potatoes into 1/4” thick slices. I placed mine on wax paper to make it easier to work with them later.
Slice the goat cheese as you did the potatoes.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a circle…about 15 – 18 inches in diameter. Transfer this to a baking sheet covered with parchment.
Arrange the potatoes in a circle on the center of the dough. Leave a 3 inch border around the potatoes…this is the dough that you will fold up to form the top crust. Layer on the onions, then the cheese, then the mushrooms, peppers and finally the garlic. Fold the edges of the dough up. Slide it into the oven and bake until the crust is golden brown…about 15 minutes or so.
Remove from the oven, slide it onto a cooling rack and let it cool for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
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