Addictions

I'll admit that I am addicted to a few things in my life - addictions that started when I was little and if anything got stronger with age (as things like that are wont to do), and all of them concerning food. The first one would have to be good, full-sour kosher dill pickles. There was is a restaurant where my grandparents used to live (just found out it still existed!) called the Blackhorn Steakhouse, and they always give you a little plate of the most delicious dill pickles as an accompaniment to your meal. It was one of the first restaurants my family took me to when I was a baby, and apparently instead of wailing for a bottle or gumming my way through the baby food my mom would bring along, I would contentedly suck back pickle after vinegary pickle. The waiters thought both my parents and I were nuts - I mean, who lets an infant eat all the pickles she can get her hands on? But what can I say? I was unique.

My second major food-centric addiction is one that I know a couple people in my family share: peppery spice. I can actually place the blame for this one (if you want to call it blame) firmly on my mom and maternal grandfather (yes, the man of the 7-alarm curry). While my mom's tolerance for chilis and peppercorns has diminished over the years, when she was carrying me she was quite the queen of super-spicy vinaigrettes with her salads, and generous lashings of black pepper on everything. To this day neither my grandfather nor I can live without our pepper grinders - though mine is in somewhat sad condition, and doesn't really grind well anymore. We used to have a glorious, solid-wood salt and pepper grinder set as part of a salad bowl collection, but sometime during our move to the current house they both met the sarcastic side of the "fragile" label and shattered. It's been 4 years since then, and only being able to afford a plastic mockery of a pepper mill myself I've been after my mom to buy us a good set again with a mill like this one. FoodBuzz is featuring this electric set as their Daily Special on Monday, and provided it ground pepper coarsely (I hate the pepper "dust") I wouldn't say no to it even though it's electric - not really my first choice for a piece of equipment I consider so "rustic" and important for use. But pepper is pepper, and any is better than none! 

My third major addiction, since there are so many out there, should be rampantly obvious to those of you that read this blog. Yes, I am talking about the impossible-to-resist power of the baker's kitchen. I've made so many things recently that I haven't had time to share them all with you, which is a shame because they've (mostly) been outstanding successes. Things like these cookies, crammed full of sunflower and flax seeds, Craisins and oatmeal, inspired by a host of sites including this one on Gourmeted. Or these mini lemon puffs, low in fat but still incredibly moist and flavourful from a good dose of tangy yogurt - disappearing almost as quick as we could put them out onto platters. I guess you can say I've found my niche in the tumultuous world of addictions. I'm just glad my impulses to satisfy it are still welcomed!

Double Sunflower Seed Cookies

Makes 30

¾ cup flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp cornstarch

½ cup (3.8 oz) shortening

1 cup (6.3 oz) sunflower butter

¾ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ tbsp milk

½ tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp whole flax seeds

¾ cup rolled oats (not instant)

¾ cup salted, roasted sunflower seeds

½ cup dried cranberries

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder and cornstarch. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl cream shortening, sunflower butter and sugars.
4. Add egg, milk, lemon juice and vanilla, beating well.
5. Add flour mixture, flax seeds, oats, sunflower seeds and cranberries, mix until no streaks of flour remain.
6. Cover dough surface with plastic wrap and chill for 2-6 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 350F.
8. Bake for 11 minutes. Cool completely on the sheets.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 179.6
Total Fat: 9.8 g
Cholesterol: 7.1 mg
Sodium: 69.8 mg
Total Carbs: 20.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g
Protein: 4.0 g

Little Lemon Yogurt Puffs
Makes 12
1 egg
1 egg white
1/2 cup low-fat lemon yogurt
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350F, grease 10 mini-muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. In a bowl, beat together egg, egg white, yogurt, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Add dry mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring quickly but gently just to combine.
5. Spoon into muffin cups.
6. Bake 12-15 minutes, until test done. Turn out immediately and cool on a rack.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 107.6
Total Fat: 2.9 g
Cholesterol: 18.6 mg
Sodium: 14.8 mg
Total Carbs: 17.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
Protein: 2.5 g

Crunchy Granola

One of the blogs I first read, before starting my own, was a family and lifestyle oriented journal called "Crunchy Granola", something that just occurred to me as I was typing up this recipe. The blog (which is still being updated!) really has nothing to do with granola at all, but mind you neither does the whole "slang" definition of the term. If you're to believe the Urban Dictionary (and really - who doesn't believe all those peer edited fora?) you'll love the definition I found there (and I quote):

"a person who is into all that all natural crap and eats tofu and does yoga and hugs trees... and not in the sexual way


everyone at wesleyan university (excluding Emily and i)" (c/o professor chaos).

Well, I eat tofu and love doing yoga (and pilates, and even yogalates!), but I don't think I've ever hugged a tree. At least not that I'll admit to willingly in my recent memory. Does that make me slightly chewy granola then? Muesli? Trail mix? Hmm, I'll have to find that out.

But for now, I'll serve some crunchy granola of my own - as a topper for this sweet and spicy cake. Something to take to my tofu-munching yoga convention... and professor chaos gets none of it!

Crunch - Topped Spice Cake
Serves 9
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup low-fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp black pepper (trust me on this one)
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp crunchy granola

1. Preheat oven to 350F, grease a 9" square pan.
2. In a bowl, cream together butter, cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla.
3. Stir in the dry ingredients, followed by the buttermilk, until a thick, smooth batter is formed.
4. Spread in the prepared pan and top with granola.
5. Bake 40-45 minutes, until tests done. Cool completely in the pan.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 194.5
Total Fat: 8.1 g
Cholesterol: 42.0 mg
Sodium: 98.1 mg
Total Carbs: 29.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g
Protein: 5.5 g

Bored With Bran? Bah!

I present you today with an unlikely, and somewhat boring, super hero in the world of ingredients. This "super-nutrient" is a key factor in staying full, regulating blood sugar, and alleviating or preventing a host of problems like hernias, hemorrhoids, diverticulitis, heart and bowel disease and high cholesterol. It's also more common than you think, incredibly easy to take in when you eat a healthy, balanced diet full of actual foods.

So, what is this miracle food? Fibre.

I know. Fibre is the stuff of the horror stories we were told as kids... the ones about what we'd be doing as little old ladies and men, slurping back stewed prunes and regaling each other with tales of each and every quirk of our large intestines and bemoaned how our hemorrhoids were acting up due to the clouds rolling in. Or we'd be sitting in the old age home squabbling over the last bowl of overcooked oat bran, waiting for the nurses to bring us our daily dose of Milk of Magnesia, right? Well, I for one would rather avoid that drama. Like I said, eating a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes will get you well on your fibreriffic way (so to speak). The problem with most of us is that the modern dietary staples that are easily bought and consumed are not exactly conducive to achieving the daily recommended goal of 35 grams of fibre. Even the kids' breakfast cereals that now boldly display the tagline "made with whole grains" don't go very far down that path - a serving of one of those will only net you 1-2 grams at the most.

I thought this whole lack of fibre thing was worldwide - I mean the "big brands" out there are pretty much universal. But as I was looking through some of the info I found on the subject written by dietitian Suzanne Havala I found evidence  that some people in China eat over 70 grams every day! Even taking an average of Asian diets, average intake is 33 grams - a far cry from what most of us in Western culture get at 13 grams.

But getting in good doses of fibre takes a bit of work, and can be a bit of a bore. How many bowls of All-Bran can you chew through before that bacon and egg platter starts calling your name? Sure, there's the standby brown rice and steel-cut oats, but they take time and can have their basic goodness drowned out in the quest for flavour. And those expensive bran muffins at the coffee shops seem like a great way to get in a good dose of the stuff...until you find out that each one is packed with about 350 calories and 10 grams of fat - not to mention 33% of the RDA for sodium (790 mg) and 41% of the RDA for sugar (37 g)! And that's before the latte, which you know you can't resist while you're sitting at the drive-through! It seems to be a fairly lose-lose situation.
 
Well, making your own muffins, laden with fibre, isn't out of the question. In fact, really, making your own is one of the best ways to start enjoying your daily "do your body good" routine. Not only can you control the fat, salt, sugar and calories of the goodies you make, but they're infinitely variable! Apples one week, bananas the next, throw in some just-ripe peaches and strawberries mid summer or even indulge a little and add cocoa powder and chocolate chips for a treat. An added bonus is that they'll cost you less than all those trips to the coffee shop - no extra gas, hiked prices, tip jars or extra lattes to contend with.
 
Homemade is too much time spent, I hear some of you say. Well, when you take into account the side trips for the snacks at the cafes and the trips to the cafeteria at work or school, the wait time is pretty much even, if not less with home made. Not to mention, when you bake at home you'll be making a bunch of muffins, not just one or two!
 
So are you ready to try for your 35 grams a day?
 

Apples and Ba Nay Nays Muffins

Makes 24
1 cup soy or rice milk
1/4 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1 over-ripe banana, mashed well
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 cups unsweetened, thick applesauce
3 tbsp. canola oil
3 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup ground almonds
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
2 medium apples, diced

1. Preheat oven to 350 F, and grease 24 regular or 12 jumbo muffin cups (or 12 muffin cups and 1 loaf pan).
2. Mix soy milk, soy yogurt, banana and lemon juice.
3. Add applesauce, canola oil, maple syrup and sugars.
4. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and add to the wet mixture.
5. Mix until just combined.
6. Bake standard muffins for 20 minutes, jumbos 35 minutes and a loaf 45 minutes (will test clean).

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 148.0
Total Fat: 3.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 25.9 mg
Total Carbs: 30.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.1 g
Protein: 3.4 g

To make the apple-ring "tiara" on these muffins, I peeled and cored them before slicing them with a mandoline. My Oxo's not as nice as this one from ChefsCatalog, but it's servicable and still does a great job - be sure to check out what the other foodies are doing with mandolines tomorrow when it's FoodBuzz' Daily Special.

Wholesome Apple Grain Muffins

Makes 12

1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce (I used home-made)

2 tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tbsp fat free soy milk
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tsp maple extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 tbsp spelt (or oat) bran
1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 apple, peeled, cored and slined into rings (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375F,grease or line 12 muffin cups.
2. In a bowl, beat together applesauce, flaxseed, soy milk, agave nectar and maple extract until smooth.
3. Add flours, bran, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix just until blended - do not beat.
4. Portion into muffin cups and top each with an apple ring, if desired.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the tin before unmoulding.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 102.7
Total Fat: 0.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 36.1 mg
Total Carbs: 22.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.8 g
Protein: 2.9 g

Rye (Oh My!) Apple Muffins

Makes 18

2/3 cup raisins

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup rye whiskey (optional, but good)

3 tbsp ground flaxseed

1/3 cup hot water

1 cup flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rye flour

2 tbsp wheat germ
1/4 cup wheat bran
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup canola oil
5 oz silken tofu, pureed
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup rye flakes (or more rolled oats)
1 apple, peeled and diced

1. Soak raisins and pepitas in the whiskey overnight. Drain and set aside.
2. Peheat oven to 375F, grease 18 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
3. Whisk together flaxseed and hot water in a small bowl, set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together flours, wheat germ, wheat bran, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl, beat together applesauce, sugar, maple syrup, oil, tofu and vanilla.
6. Add flaxseed mixture, blending well.
7. Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
8. Stir in oats, rye flakes, raisins, apple and pumpkin seeds gently.
9. Bake 20 - 25 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from tin.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 216.0
Total Fat: 5.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 63.4 mg
Total Carbs: 41.2 g

Dietary Fiber: 4.2 g

Protein: 5.0 g

Apple Butter Bran Muffins

Makes 14

1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup spelt (or wheat) bran
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp allspice
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup apple butter
1 egg
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup whole flaxseed
1/4 cup toasted buckwheat kernels (kasha)

1. Preheat oven to 400F, grease or line 14 muffin cups.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, bran, baking powder, salt, allspice and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together brown sugar, apple butter, egg and milk.
4. Stir in the flour mixture until just blended, then add the flaxseed and kasha and fold in.
5. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the tin 5 minutes before unmoulding onto a rack and cooling completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 134.9
Total Fat: 2.2 g

Cholesterol: 16.3 mg

Sodium: 14.3 mg
Total Carbs: 26.8 g

Dietary Fiber: 3.4 g

Protein: 4.6 g

What's usually on your breakfast table? Do you have a favourite recipe for a healthy baked good?

One Is the Tastiest Number!

Since I tend to cook for just myself and consequently eat alone most nights, I often get asked "don't you ever get lonely?". It's a valid question. I mean human beings as a species are generally social animals - we work together, shop together, learn together and live together, why not cook and eat together? And generally, we do. It's the accepted "norm", right - so solo diners are just, well... weird.

Well, then colour me purple and beat me with a flip-flop, because darn it, I like when I cook and eat alone. Not only do I have to worry about the intricate (and often impossible) lacework that must take place to mesh my dietary issues with my family's palates, but I'm free to experiment with all sorts of flavours and ingredients - way beyond what's considered "dinner" around here. Lentils and the same jarred pasta sauce bought from the same Italian deli 3 nights a week is not uncommon, though the lentils were originally a tough sell to the carnivores in the stepfamily. Nope, for me it can be curry chickpeas and rice, Asian stir-fry and noodles the next, broiled spicy tofu in a lavosh wrap or a good ol' lobster roll that graces my plate throughout the week, whatever suits my fancy provided I have the ingredients on hand.

I chalk it up to being not only a foodie and a bit of a creative spark, but an insatiable devourer of food blogs. At any given time, I'll easily have 5 or 6 IE windows up with various blog posts that have caught my eye. My "Favourites" folder sends my computer into a tailspin because it's so packed with saved sites, and I have a Word document open at all times to jot ideas into whenever it strikes me. I do like to use the stuff I have in the pantry whenever I can, really - there's not much room left - but at the same time I'm also looking for something fairly quick to toss together at the end of the day.

That's pretty much how this pasta came about - a pretty lavish affair for one person considering ingredients like morels and mushroom stock! While I certainly don't have fresh morels hanging around ever, I did have a whole package of dried ones from Ponderosa that I had picked up during March's CRFA show and a household of people who (if they touch them at all) consider even the taste of creminis "weird". Weird to them and no expectation to share? More for me! I also had picked up a box of delicious gluten-free spaghetti by Hodgson Mill there, so I figured I'd bust it out in this meal. The earthiness of both mushrooms and pasta worked beautifully with the tang of the tomatoes and wine - I felt very "gourmet"!

While you definitely don't have to make this just for yourself, or use only morels (though I do recommend wild mushrooms for this), its worth savouring alone at least once. That way nobody will have to see you lick the bowl! It's also a great idea for real food... real quick - like what Marye's blog event is highlighting! I'm also sending this to Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights event being hosted by Kirsten of From Kirsten's Kitchen to Yours.

Gourmet - for - One Morel Pasta

1 package (14g) dried morel mushrooms

1 cup hot mushroom stock (or water)

1/4 large sweet onion, sliced thinly

2 tbsp red wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup cooked Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Brown Rice Spaghetti w/ flax seed (or regular whole wheat spaghetti)

2 tsp rice Parmesan (or regular if not vegan)

1-2 leaves fresh basil (optional, can use 1/2 tsp dried)

1. In a small bowl, combine dried morels and hot stock or water. Set aside for 20 minutes.
2. Remove with a slotted spoon (gently squeeze out excess moisture) and set aside, reserving soaking liquid.
3. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, saute onion in some of the saved mushroom liquid, adding more as needed, until translucent and just starting to brown, about 7-8 minutes.
4. Stir in the mushrooms and wine, raise heat to medium and cook for 3-4 minutes.
5. Stir in tomato paste and another 1-2 tbsp of the mushroom liquid to form a saucy consistency.
6. Add cooked pasta and toss with the sauce, then add rice Parmesan and basil.
7. Pour into a bowl and enjoy!

Amount Per Bowl
Calories: 331.3
Total Fat: 1.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 336.3 mg
Total Carbs: 59.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.1 g
Protein: 12.9 g

It Started With A Fail.

Take a look at this recent creation of mine:

Now, what would you think that was? A slightly overbaked cheesecake maybe, perhaps ube and banana flavoured? A new kind of mochi? A slab of astronaut food fallen from the space station?

Sadly, no.

That monstrosity above is the direct result of a failed recipe experiment on my end in an attempt to make an egg-free poundcake. I had big plans - I wanted a lemon-strawberry marble, and I used a cream cheese pound cake recipe found somewhere online (I don't remember where, honestly) as my base. Maybe the liquid ratios were off, or the pH wasn't balanced, or the planets weren't perfectly aligned in the shape of a hula-dancing tiki god. Needless to say that after an hour and forty minutes in the oven at 350, and testing done by the tried-and-true skewer, it sunk. Well, plummeted. And when I cut into it the next day (hey, it smelled awesome, and I had to see the marbling anyways!), I was greeted with that super-dense, cheesecake/mochi texture you see. Not what I was hoping to take to my elementary school's big shindig for their 25th anniversary - especially since I'm known as "quite the baker" amongst the staff there!

Luckily, the cake wasn't a total waste - it's really more one of those "looks can be decieving" cases. My mom verified that it tasted fine, if not good, and that it was like eating cheesecake without the cheese flavour (if that makes sense). Nonetheless, I trashed that recipe, since I doubt there's anyone in the market for that kind of thing really.

The problem with the cake, which tasty as it may be was unservable to strangers, meant that I now had another issue: I had promised to bring a "creation" of mine to this reunion shindig, and was now sans gateaux. To add to the stress I was putting myself under (I admit I am a perfectionist / type-A / worrywart), my mom was also planning to bring something. She was bringing a pan of her infamous apple squares, which are coveted by pretty much everyone who's had them anywhere. See? Tried-and-true = win... experiments right before event = fail.

So I turned back to something I knew worked. Something simple, fast, infinitely variable and gosh-darn-it good. I busted out my version of Gourmet's Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, and tweaked with it again, just enough to be different but not enough to seriously screw anything up.

Doesn't it look all yummy and full of chocolatey goodness? Mom thought so too. But you know what - it looks like chocolate, and smells like chocolate, but aside from the smattering of chips on top, there's naught but a teaspoon of cocoa powder or anything else chocolatey in the entire thing.

My secret? Good ol' mesquite flour. I love using this stuff - it smells awesome and so far has worked wonders in my sweet baking. If I ate meat I would even venture to say it would work well in a rub mixture for pork or beef on the grill too, bringing slightly smoky chocolate-coffee-cinnamon notes into play, so if you try that out, let me know how it goes!

So here's the cake that saved the day - different, tender, tasty and proven. If nothing else, it was the cake that saved my ego from one of the many inevitable kitchen blunders we all go through, it proved my mind is still only slightly older than my body!

Saved - the - Day Quick Cake

Serves 10

1 cup flour

1 tbsp mesquite flour
1 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg
2 oz low-fat cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375F, grease a 9" springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, mesquite flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
3. In a large bowl, cream cream cheese and sugar.
4. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.
5. Add half the flour mixture to the creamed ingredients, blending in slightly, then add buttermilk. Follow with remaining dry ingredients.
6. Spread batter in prepared pan, smoothing to the edges.
7. Top with chocolate chips.
8. Bake for 35 minutes, cool completely in the pan before unmoulding.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 145.5
Total Fat: 3.0 g
Cholesterol: 24.8 mg
Sodium: 33.4 mg
Total Carbs: 27.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
Protein: 3.1 g