Tucson CSA – January 11, 2012

Tags

9-Grain Bread, Butternut Squash, carrots, Chioggia Beets, Daikon Radish, Dill, Fennel, Navel Oranges, Spinach, Tucson CSA

I <3 the Tucson CSA, did you know that? Can you tell? I really do. I know, I know, it’s only week two – but there’s something deeply satisfying about leaving work at 5pm, driving down Speedway Boulevard to 4th Avenue, and seeing the Historic Y come into view once I’m on University Blvd. Walking by the boxes brimming with produce and picking up our share is the best feeling – there’s something deeply satisfying about the whole process. Also, being surrounded by a community of people who are supporting local farmers – eating from the land that we all live on and around – makes me feel connected to something great than myself. It’s just a really great experience all around. Somewhat indescribable, I guess. Either that or I’m just really inarticulate.

This week we got the following items in our share:

• 2 Butternut Squash
• 1 Bunch of Carrots
• 2 Bunches of Chioggia Beets
• 3 Daikon Radishes
• Fresh Dill
• 3 Fennel Bulbs
• 2 Navel Oranges
• Bag of Spinach
• 1 Loaf of 9-Grain Bread

I kind of feel like I’m back at square one again. What am I going to do with all of this stuff? I still have some leftover carrots from last week, so maybe carrot muffins or carrot slaw are in my future. I don’t think I’ve ever had Daikon radishes, so that will be new to me I love beets, so that’s going to be easy. Maybe I’ll roast them and make a salad with some goat cheese. Do you have any other ideas?

Butternut squash – AHHHHHH. Really, more squash? AHHHHHH! Even though I like to give my squash a hard time, I actually really like it. The humble squash doesn’t deserve to be teased though, so I’m going to spend some time brainstorming a good use for it.  Things turned out pretty good with my spaghetti squash bread adventure, and I’m really starting to like the idea of using various types of squash in my baking. I’m going to spend some time thinking on this further.

In short, I feel good being part of the local food system. I want to know my farmer. I love been challenged with cooking creatively. I’m excited that we’re eating healthier. I’m supporting local sustainable farming. I want to be kinder to my environment. Most importantly, I’m having fun!

Spaghetti Squash Bread

Tags

Bee Chama Honey, Bookmans, Farmer's Market, Goodwill Industries, Rosa's Mexican Food, Spaghetti Squash, St. Philips Place, Thrift Stores

Yep. That’s my drive home from work. Isn’t it pretty?

I should preface this recipe by telling you that we spent much of this past weekend thrift store shopping (don’t worry, we’ll come around to the Spaghetti Squash Bread eventually, but if you’re too impatient just scroll down). Anyway, I tend to get excited when I find fun things in thrift stores, and I just need to share it with the world

During our weekend of running around town to thrift stores, used bookstores (Bookmans), and a farmer’s market (St. Philips Place Farmer’s Market), I walked away with the following:

1. 4 New Books, 3 of which are cookbooks (…maybe that seems a little excessive. Don’t worry though – I got rid of three boxes of books during our adventures to Bookmans and the thrift stores, and walked away with a nice $170 store credit to Bookmans. Sweet!)
2. A jar of raw Orange Blossom honey from New Mexico (courtesy of Bee Chama Honey)
3. A clear vintage glass Fire King oval baking dish
4. A glazed (peach) glass Fire King double serving dish
5. “S” and “P” ceramic salt and pepper shakers
6. A 70′s era mug with flowers on it
7.  Two 60s-era Japanese gold leaf flower-decorated bowls
8. A 1977 mustard yellow edition “Betty Crocker Recipe Card Collection” in pristine condition (and complete!)
9. A new favorite Mexican restaurant in Tucson. Rosa’s is great – my beef tamale was to die for (and didn’t cause me any digestive upset, as Mexican Food often does…). TMI?

When I got home Sunday afternoon I immediately cleaned all of my goodies (I like to see old things get a fresh new sparkle), and then laid them out on the counter just to take it all in. There’s something deeply satisfying about looking at the beautiful things that you’re able to find after sorting through junk all day.

While admiring my finds from the weekend, I couldn’t help but see my lonely spaghetti squash from last week’s farmer’s market, staring at me from the other side of the kitchen counter. I wanted to ignore that it was there, and just bask in the afterglow of a successful weekend of finding some good deals. Why couldn’t I just ignore the fact that I needed to do something with it – anything with it? Honestly, the spaghetti squash had been bothering me all weekend.

Hmm… where to begin? It started with the CSA share we picked up last week (see my last post). I hate to admit it, but over the last few months Kirk and I haven’t eaten as many veggies as we should have. I’d like to blame it on stress and moving… but the bottom line is that we really just love unhealthy food. I know we can’t be alone – if it has been deep fried, covered in melted cheese and/or full or carbs, you better believe we want to eat it

So now that we have an excess of veggies courtesy of our CSA, I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed trying to think of creative and tasty ways to use them up before they all wilt/rot in the fridge. The oranges, of course, are long gone – they got sliced and eaten almost immediately. The braising greens were used up Saturday night (I made spicy braised greens with bacon to accompany a nice piece of baked salmon with fresh dill and lemon). The kohlrabi, two tomatoes, a few carrots, and a few leaves of Tokyo Bekana were used in a salad last night. The collard greens were sauteed in chicken broth, garlic, and bacon tonight. The sourdough bread was sliced, toasted, and spread with butter and raspberry preserves for breakfast this weekend (although there’s still about a third of the loaf left. The sourdough is insanely delicious, I might add). So I think we’re doing fairly well! It really takes a lot of meal planning when you have this much produce on your hands!

But here’s the thing, the Spaghetti Squash had been staring at me all weekend and I had no idea what to do with it until Sunday, when I was standing there looking at my “new to me” kitchen ware and wanting to be in complete denial of it’s very existence. I mean geez, it was huge! I had been scouring the internet looking for some fun way to use it, and the general consensus seemed to be that most people roast it, sprinkle it with a little olive oil and salt, and eat it just so. I’m sorry, but that just seemed boring. I’ve eaten it that way before – in fact that’s the only way I’ve ever prepared it. And don’t get me wrong, it’s good! Wonderful in it’s simplicity when you’re craving something, well, simple.

I don’t know why, but I had been craving some banana bread in the morning. Why? I don’t know. I just was. Who can explain such things? And then it hit me – why not make a sweet quick bread with the giant spaghetti squash??? Really? I mean, people make zucchini bread, carrot bread, pumpkin bread, etc… so why not spaghetti squash bread? In theory, it shouldn’t be much different, should it? Well, it isn’t And I love it! I really couldn’t be happier with this discovery.

Spaghetti Squash Bread

Ingredients (for two loaves)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups cooked spaghetti squash

Directions

• Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Mix flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
• Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in the squash until well incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake for 45 to an hour, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean (it actually took me closer to an hour, but I started checking it at 40 minutes).
• Cool in pans on rack for about 20 minutes. Remove bread from pans, and completely cool.
• Slice and serve with a pat of butter

Tucson CSA – January 4, 2012

Tags

Tucson CSA

Look! Can you believe it? I never thought I’d be able to get this kind of amazing produce (locally grown!) in January. Though, of course, January in Tucson is like spring everywhere else, so I guess it’s not so surprising. It will probably be even more shocking to see what they can grow in the summer. I can’t imagine much produce can make it through a desert summer, but it will be interesting to see what we get then…

In mid-December, on a tip from my new boss, I signed us up for the Tucson CSA. It turns out that we share a love for local food and cooking (!), and on the last day the CSA was open before the holidays he took me with him to pick-up his share and he showed me around (and gave me his giant bunch of braising greens). I was sold at first sight – everyone was so nice and welcoming! The pick-up location is in the courtyard of the Historic Y near downtown and the University of Arizona campus, which is really a beautiful setting. There was a musician playing acoustic guitar, and a chef sampling Indian-inspired dishes she had made using that week’s produce (and giving out her recipes). Yum!

That evening I went home and signed us up online. Unfortunately for us (though probably good for them, I guess…) the CSA and volunteers took a break for the holidays, so yesterday (January 4th) was the first pick-up day for us. It was so hard waiting two/three weeks, but ultimately not a bad way to start 2012!

As you can see from the photo at the top of this entry, we got a pretty good sized share. In fact, I brought the biggest reusable shopping bag I had, and it still didn’t all fit (I was left carrying bread and tomatoes in my arms, in addition to my overflowing bag). Here’s what we got:

• Kohlrabi (4 small heads + greens)
• Collard Greens (good-sized bunch)
• Tokyo Bekana Greens (The most massive head of lettuce/greens I think I’ve ever seen – not really a lettuce, though. Click on the link for a good description I found elsewhere in the blogosphere)
• Braising Greens (a nice big bunch)
• Carrots
• Spaghetti Squash
• Small basket of about 6-7 winter tomatoes
• 3 Navel Oranges
• Loaf of Sourdough

I have yet to figure out what to do with all of this. I’m thinking about trying a spaghetti squash bread (like zucchini bread… but not), maybe I’ll make a rustic tart using the greens, perhaps a “Kohl”-slaw is our future, and maybe some fried green winter tomatoes. I don’t know. There are endless possibilities!

All I know is it’s a good way to start to the year. I’m excited to see what the CSA continues to bring us throughout the year. It’s so interesting living in a place where fresh produce is abundant year round.  I should mention that two of the oranges are already gone (dessert last night), and I suspect the third one will be gone today. Eating all this beautiful citrus fruit is actually making me think about planting a citrus tree… because I can! And why not?

Until next time, I’ll leave you with this photo of my giant head of Tokyo Bekana (yep, it’s taking up more than half a shelf in the fridge). What should I do with it?

Grilled Beef with Broccoli Slaw Salad

Tags

arugula, Beef Tenderloin, Broccoli Slaw, Cumin, Feta Cheese, garlic, Hwy 83 S, Sonoita, Sunflower Seeds

Yay! It’s now 2012! Can you believe it? I sure can’t. 2011 went by in a crazy blur, and now it’s 2012. Here’s to a happy and healthy new year!!! Kirk and I rang in 2012 with homemade lasagna, tiramisu, and reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It may not sound exciting to you, but it was a nice and relaxing night for us – that’s how we roll

New Years day was strange. I’m still getting used to the weather in Tucson – I just couldn’t believe that it was 82 degrees Fahrenheit and completely sunny. What the heck? Seriously? Where’s the ice? Snow? Insane windchill off Lake Michigan? Though I can’t really say that I miss any of those things. I mean, maybe I miss some of the snow, but not as much as I thought I would.

Kirk and I spent the morning of New Year’s day taking down all the Christmas decorations (it was just as exciting as it sounds…), and then went for a drive in the afternoon. We decided on a whim to head out of Tucson and go south to Sonoita, a small little ranch town that is sort-of between Tucson and the Mexican boarder (I say “sort-of” because it’s a little out of the way).

I originally heard about Sonoita from an older gentleman I met on an my flight back to Chicago the first time I came to Tucson to interview for my now job. He sat next to me and was full of amazing stories – he was the kind of person that you meet randomly, and desperately wish you could get to know better. We ended up talking through the entire flight, and he mentioned that he had a ranch in Sonoita in addition to owning the local feedshop. His wife also own a local Native American Jewelry store called “Many Horses Trading Company”. When we parted ways when our flight landed in Chicago, he told me that we’d meet again (I believe he said “jusqu’à la prochaine fois”, meaning “until next time” in French). I genuinely hope we do meet again. He said that he thought we would.

Anyway, because of my conversation with this kind stranger, I had grown deeply curious about Sonoita and finally decided to go down and see what it was like. We rolled down the windows on the car, put M83 and Youth Lagoon in the CD player, and took in the scenery as we headed out of town and drove through part of the Coronado National Forest. Feeling the wind blowing through my hair and the sun on my skin was amazing. I just couldn’t believe it was January 1st.

In short, Hwy 83-S is an amazing drive from Tucson, and Sonoita is a great town. It looked like there were a couple of vineyards scattered around as well, which could become part of the trip plan the next time we go down there. Of course, given it was New Year’s day all the stores were closed when we got there. But if you ever have a chance to make the drive from Tucson to Sonoita along 83, you should. It’s a great drive for a day when you can roll the windows down and play your favorite music. So far, I love living in the southwest.

But, all of this is not the point of this blog entry. Rather, I wanted to take some time to tell you about the meal that we made for dinner tonight. Because we’ve been having such nice (still unbelievable) weather, we decided to grill some steaks. My parents gave us a Weber charcoal grill for Christmas, and the Whitmores (family friends who are, for all intents and purposes, family) sent us some Omaha steaks. Put two and two together – it was time to break in the grill.

Luckily, along with our grill, my mom had also bought us Bobby Flay’s Boy Meets Grill. Oh my goodness – how did I not know about this book earlier? I mean jeez, it came out almost 13 years ago (yep, it’s been 13 years since since 1999. There’s another reality check). I guess I had always discounted “Bar-B-Q” related cookbooks since I was trapped living in apartment in the city (without a deck or porch). Well, hello world of grilling! Everything in Bobby’s book looks delicious. I want to make all of it. My stomach starts rumbling every time I flip through it. I should have discovered grilling earlier.

Well, we could only select one recipe to start with, and we decided to try (with a few modifications – namely replacing the fresh cilantro with dried parsley) the “Beef Tenderloin Crusted with Cumin and Fresh Garlic”. To accompany the steaks, we cooked up two of the baked potatoes that also came with our Omaha Steaks. Hmm. The meal still needed something (something green and vegetable-y, I mean, it is a new years, healthy eating blah blah blah and all that business), so I raided the fridge and tossed together a salad that I’m now fairly certain is going to go into the  permanent recipe collection – Broccoli Slaw Salad. I should tell you, I <3 Broccoli slaw. It’s been a favorite in my kitchen for a while now. And this recipe has further solidified it for me.

Neither of the two recipes that I’m sharing with you today are rocket science, but combined they make for a meal reminiscent of a late afternoon on a warm summer day. I know that most of you are trapped in cold weather right now, but let this remind you of the light at the end of the tunnel! Afternoons of sitting on the patio and watching the sun set are not far off.

Beef Tenderloin Crusted with Cumin and Fresh Garlic (modified from Bobby Flay’s Boy Meets Grill)

Ingredients (makes enough to marinade 2 6oz steaks)

• 1/8 cup Olive Oil
• 1 T Ground Cumin
• 4 cloves of fresh Garlic, smashed
• 1 T Lime Juice
• 1 T Dried Parsley (or 1 T Fresh chopped Cilantro, per BF)
• 1/8 t Black Pepper
• 2 Beef Tenderloin Steaks (approximately 6oz each)
• Salt

Directions

• Place the oil, cumin, garlic, lime juice, parsley (or cilantro) and pepper in a food processor (note: we used our mortar and pestle for a most rustic marinade) and process to a smooth paste.
• Place the tenderloins in a small shallow dish and cover with marinade, rubbing it into the meat. Refrigerate, covered, for at least four hours, or ideally overnight.
• Preheat your grill to medium-high.
• Remove the tenderloins from the dish, leaving as much of the marinade on as possible.
• Lay the steaks on the grill, and the coat the exposed side with any additional marinade (don’t let that yummy garlicy goodness go to waste!)
• Season with salt, and grill until you’ve achieved your preferred level of “done-ness”. We like our steaks medium. They were about an inch thick, so we cooked them for 5-6 minutes on the first side, and then 3-4 minutes on the second side. Our grill was closer to “High” heat though… we still haven’t quite mastered controlled cooking with charcoal.
• Remove from the steaks from the grill and serve!

Broccoli Slaw Salad

Ingredients (makes enough for two servings as a side)

• 1 1/2 cups Arugula
• 1 1/2 cups bagged Broccoli Slaw (you can usually find this in your grocery store along with other bagged salad mixes)
• 2 T roasted (unsalted) Sunflower Seeds
• 1/3 cup Feta Cheese
• 2 T Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 T Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup sweet cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

• Evenly divide the arugala onto two plates. It will form the “bed” for your broccoli slaw salad.
• Toss the broccoli slaw, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, olive oil, and vinegar in a bowl together. Mix well to make sure that all ingredients are evenly coated with oil and vinegar.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Spread the broccoli slaw mix on top of the arugula.
• Gently drop the halved cherry tomatoes on top of the salad.
• Serve!

Now, you may be wondering why there is no picture of the finished meal, aren’t you? Well, after a little snafu with getting the grill chimney lit properly, we were rushing around with the timing of the meal. When the steaks were finally done, we were so relieved to have everything plated that we sat down and immediately celebrated by eating all of the food. So be it. Food is meant to be eaten and not always photographed. That’s what happens when you’re swept away in the moment!

Happy 2012 to all of you – may you smile everyday, and live your life like you mean it.

Tiramisu, Classically Simplified

Tags

chocolate, custard, espresso, kahlua, ladyfingers, tiramisu

I know, I know. It’s been ages since I last wrote. In fact, it’s been almost a year. Can you believe it? I can’t. It’s a long story. You can find the brief version in the updated “About Emily” section of the blog. However, until I find more time to explain myself, I thought I would dive right back and share my new Tiramisu recipe!

Looking back over the blog, I noticed that one of my earliest entries (back in 2009) was a recipe for Tiramisu. That Tiramisu tasted delicious, but as I looked over the recipe, it just seemed too complicated.

I was thinking about Tiramisu because it’s New Year’s eve, and Kirk and I are making an Italian dinner. He’s doing his mom’s lasagna (which, as of this writing, is making the house smell amazing), and I wanted to make a Tiramisu. Looking over my old recipe, I decided I just didn’t have the energy for it. It was just too many steps! There had to be an easier way. In the past several years that I’ve been cooking, I’ve learned that simple is often better, and so I started scouring the internet for authentic recipes that wouldn’t kill me.

As I looked through probably 30 recipes, I started to feel overwhelmed – how can I know which one will be best? They all have slightly different ratios of ingredients, and most of them had some mixed reviews. Ugh. Darn you Internet – you do not always make my life easier. I eventually decided to wing it. I knew I would need the basics – egg yolks, sugar, heavy cream, mascarpone cheese, ladyfingers, and some sort of coffee/alcohol mix. I told myself that it couldn’t be that hard. And actually, it wasn’t!

It took me about an hour from start to finish, and it probably could have been closer to 45 minutes had Kirk and I not been sharing the kitchen for our various preparations. Anyway, trust me when I tell you that this recipe is actually pretty easy, and will give you a Tiramisu that’s to die for. Fair warning: the recipe is a bit boozy. I used Kahlua, so it actually added a richness that I think straight brandy would have missed. However, if you’re sharing this with kids, you might want to cut back on the liquor and focus on the coffee (not that kids need an excess of coffee either…).

I’m not going to lie. While I was making this I may have licked both my spatula and whisk clean. The cheese and custard mix is not something to mess around with – you will get addicted if you sample it.

Tiramisu, Classically Simplified

Ingredients:

• 4 large egg yolks (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (room temperature)
• 20oz Mascarpone Cheese (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 cups STRONG coffee
• 1/2 cup Kahlua
• Approximately 35-40 ladyfingers
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• Dark Chocolate shavings

Directions:

• Pull out an 8×8 glass dish (mine wasn’t quite 8×8 but I made do, but I can tell that 8×8 would probably be best). Fill a large bowl with ice water (trust me, you’ll need this about half-way through).
• Make the custard: Using a double boiler, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water until the sugar dissolves. Continue whisking as the mixture heats up (you don’t want to end up with chunky pieces of cooked egg yolk in your custard!).
• Once the sugar has completely dissolved (after about 10 minutes), slowly whisk in the cream and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the custard is light and slightly foamy, for about another 10-15 minutes.
• Immediately remove the bowl from the saucepan and set in the bowl of prepared ice water – whisk the custard until it is cool (about 1 minute). At this point, you’ll really feel the custard start to firm up.
• Put the mascarpone in a large bowl and fold the custard in using a rubber spatula until almost combined, then whisk the mixture until it’s just smooth (do not over mix it – most of the recipes I looked at said the custard/cheese mix can get grainy if over mixed).
• Lick your whisk and set it aside
• Combine the coffee and kahlua in a shallow dish. One at a time, dip the ladyfingers in the boozy coffee mixture until soaked but not soggy (i.e. the landyfingers shouldn’t disintegrate in your hands…)
• Arrange a single layer of ladyfingers in your Tiramisu dish. Spread one-third of the mascarpone custard over the ladyfingers. Repeat with a second layer of espresso-dipped ladyfingers, arranging them in the opposite direction. Top with another one-third of the custard. Repeat with the remaining ladyfingers, alternating directions. Spread the remaining custard on top and dust with the cocoa powder.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the whole thing for at least a few hours. Mine sat for about 6 hours and ended up being delicious. Just before serving, shave curls of chocolate on top (you can use a microplane for mini-shavings, or a veggie peeler for larger curls – I used my microplane).

… Or, if you can’t stand to wait for it to chill, just sit down in a chair and dig in…

Here’s a Fat Cat

Tags

Canady Le Chocolatier, Chicago French Market, Fumare Meats, Mom, Montreal Pastrami, Sneezer, Vanille Patisserie

Yep, you guessed it. That’s the fat cat that the title of this post is referring to. She’s one of our little cutie patooties – the Sneezer bear. I just like this picture a lot – I may have positioned her slightly… but once she was on her back, she stayed there (and, in fact, seemed quite comfortable). She was purring. I hope this makes you smile.

Needless to say, things have been busy the last couple of weeks. Last week, mom showed up in Chicago Thursday night, and I took the day off from work on Friday. We spent much of Friday morning bumming around the apartment, and then went into downtown for lunch. Have you ever been to the French Market in downtown Chicago? If not, it’s definitely worth checking out. If you like crepes, chocolates, pastry, and fresh veggies, it’s a pretty good little market nestled in the western portion of downtown. We picked up a box of chocolates from Canady Le Chocolatier (where I will soon be taking a chocolate making class!), grabbed a few entremets and a croissant from Vanille Patisserie, and selected some fresh bananas and oranges to bring home.

As for lunch… holy cow. We saw several people eating what appeared to be the most delicious pastrami sandwich I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Although there are several amazing food vendors in the French Market, it was an easy choice: Fumare Meats for a Montreal-style pastrami sandwich. I wish I could have taken a photo – the lighting just wasn’t doing it for me. But trust me people – this was some seriously delicious meat. The sandwich consisted of hand-sliced meat that was cured and naturally smoked, peppered and slow-cooked on the premises (which their website says they do daily). We got the end piece of the meat, and therefore got the nice crusty bits of peppery outside along with our moist and  falling apart “inner” meat. The meat itself is served on dark rye bread with a side of spicy mustard. The mustard has just the right amount of kick – you can feel it in the back of your nose My mom and I split one sandwich, but we agreed that we each could have probably eaten a whole one.

So yes, delicious and super yummy. That’s really all I can say. I have now found my new favorite meat in Chicago (which says a lot, since this is a city that prides itself on it’s tasty meats). I can totally imagine myself stopping by there on my way home from work to pick up sandwiches for dinner. This is the best idea I’ve had all week. Plus, the man that owns the place (and slices the meat) is so completely charming – we only chatted with him briefly, but you can just tell when someone loves their craft and takes pleasure in putting a smile on people’s faces. Based on the website, it looks like he left the corporate world to follow this passion. All the more reason to love it!

So yes, after having the best sandwich ever, mom and I walked around downtown, browsed the bookstore, and then went home. We spent the rest of the weekend doing similar things – running some errands in the middle of the day, but otherwise relaxing in the apartment. It was a nice weekend, and makes me wish my mom lived closer so we could spend time visiting local yarn shops together, browsing books together at the public library, buying fun kitchen supplies for new adventures, shopping for vintage cookbooks…

It was a good weekend.

Who loves Bananas and Chocolate?

Tags

Banana Bread, bananas, bundt cake, butter, cinnamon, cloves, dark chocolate, muffins, nutmeg

Yep. You’re looking at the results of a two year obsession that I *think* is finally over. Most of us know that there are THOUSANDS of banana bread recipes out there, and it’s nearly impossible (if you’re me…) to find one that is really exceptional. I have tried many recipes that I like, even some that I could consider loving, but none of them have swept me off my feet like this one. I got close to it a couple of weeks ago, and with one small tweak two nights ago, I arrived at a recipe that I think is going to be my “go to” banana bread recipe.

This time around I decided to make muffins. I spent the day working from home on Thursday, and after dinner I noticed that we had three bananas that were probably too ripe to eat on their own (i.e. perfect for banana bread). Even though it was already 7pm, I decided to go for it and bring these little guys into work on Friday – Fridays should always be celebrated with baked goods.

This recipe makes enough for approximately 24 standard sized muffins, one bundt cake, or one large loaf (or 2 small loaves).

I should let you know in advance that this recipe produces a cake/bread that is somewhat less saccharine/sweet that many other recipes I’ve tried. It also uses slightly more banana, and lets the fruit, dark  chocolate, and spices provide most of the flavor, rather than an excess of sugar (though there is still a fair amount of sugar in this recipe).

I also use a combination of ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg – it lends a warmth of flavor that is often lost from most other banana bread recipes. All of this, in addition to using a combination of butter and oil (this is so you can get the nice buttery flavor of butter, while at the same time taking advantage of the moistness that oil brings to the table) gives you what I think is the perfect banana bread recipe.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 3/4 cup Canola Oil
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
• 6-8 ounces Dark Chocolate Chips (I use 60% cocoa) or you could use 4 ounces chocolate chips and 4 ounces nuts of your choice – or just go for nuts
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (this is usually about 3 bananas for me)

Directions:

• Preheat your over to 350F
• Butter and flour your loaf or bundt pan (or if you’re making muffins, line a muffin tin with baking cups.
• In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda. Mix well with a whisk.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or another large bowl), combine the eggs, melted butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, and almost extracts. You can use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer (as you know, I love my stand mixer). Mix the wet ingredients for 2-3 minutes, until it’s a nice light lemony color.
• Slowly add and mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients – about 1/2 cup at a time (if you’re using a stand mixer, you don’t want the flour to fly all over your kitchen).
• Once the batter comes together, fold in the chocolate (and/or nuts, if you’re using them) and the mashed banana.
• Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.
• If you’re making standard sized muffins (12 to a tray), you’ll need to bake them for about 30 minutes.
• If you’re baking a large loaf, you might need over an hour.
• For a bundt cake, you’ll probably need about 50 minutes.
• You’ll know the cake/muffins are done when a tester comes out clean (but perhaps with a few crumbs), and the top of the cakes/muffins will be a nice golden brown.

Chicago Winter Morning

Tags

Chicago, smoke stack, steam, sunrise, winter

Chicago is a beautiful place in the morning. The sun rises over Lake Michigan and casts a warm glow over the neighborhoods between us and the lake front. It’s amazing watching the steam and smoke rising from the warm buildings. Capturing moments like these is what keeps winter bearable. I should note that this photo was taken on one of the coldest days we’ve had yet during this winter season.

This week, this is how I see my Chicago.

Carrot Bread

Tags

bread flour, carrot bread, carrots, dough, homemade bread, yeast

First off, I need to start of this post by explaining the photos above. Because I know most of you have no context for just how bad the snow storm was (you know, that blizzard thing we had last week), I though I’d post a couple of comparison photos that I took over the weekend. See… we usually have a really nice view of downtown Chicago! And the when the sun sets we see a really beautiful reflection on the buildings downtown

But, downtown Chicago (and our view of it – or lack-thereof during a snowstorm) is not the intended topic of this post. Rather, I’m excited to share with you a pretty tasty recipe for carrot bread. I was a little skeptical at first, but we had TONS of carrots hanging out in the fridge – - – they were the remains of my ambitious attempt from the previous weekend of buying  more  veggies with the plan of eating them.

As much as I hate to admit it, Kirk and I have a bad habit of buying lots of vegetables with the intent of eating really healthy during the week, and then life happens and we end up letting many of them go bad before we get around to wanting to eat them. I’m trying really hard to break this habit, and carrot bread was an attempt at not letting the fresh and delicious carrots go to waste.

It has a dense moist crumb, and the carrots add a beautiful color without an overwhelmingly “carroty” flavor. The flavor is actually more like a subtle sweetness, which I liked. Given the amount of carrots in the recipe, I was concerned that it would be like eating a carrot with a strange  ”bready” texture. It turned out to be just right. As a warning, it’s meant to be a moist and sticky dough, so you’ll need to be patient working with it. I’ve eaten the bread by itself with some sweet cream butter, and it’s delicious. I imagine it is probably really tasty with a hearty soup or stew

Carrot Bread (makes one large round loaf) – adapted from Bread by Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno

Ingredients

• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 3/4 cups bread flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 cups grated carrots
• 2 tbsp melted butter

Directions

• Grate your carrots (enough to get to to 2 1/4 cups) using the fine-grate side of a cheese grater box (I think I used about 8 carrots)
• Sprinkle the yeast into 1/2 cup of the warm water in a small bowl. Let it stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.
• Mix the flour and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the dissolved yeast. Add the carrots and 1 tbsp melted butter to the well. Mix in the flour and begin adding remaining water as needed. you want to have a moist and crumbly dough.
• Using a dough hook (if you have a mixer) – or kneading by hand – knead the dough until it’s smooth but still sticky, about 10 minutes.
• Put the dough into a clean greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel.

• Let it rise until it’s doubled in size (about an hour and a half). Punch it down, and then let it rest for about 10 minutes.

• Shape the dough into a round loaf and place it on a floured baking sheet covered with a dishtowel. Let it rise again (proof) until it’s doubled in size – about 45 minutes – 1 hour.
• While the dough is proofing, preheat the oven to 400F
• Using a sharp knife, make a couple of slashes in the proofed dough (it will allow the dough to continue to rise in the oven). Bake the dough in the preheated oven for approximately 45-55 minutes, until the loaf is golden and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom.
• When you take the dough out of the oven, brush the top of it with the remaining tbsp of melted butter, letting the butter absorb into the crust.
• Cool the loaf on a wire rack.

Snow Cookies

Tags

almond, blizzaster, chicago blizzard 2011, coconut, snow, snow cookies, snowpocalypse, Thundersnow

So, I have to admit something. I really (and I mean really…) wanted to call these cookies “Blizzaster Cookies” – there was just something snazzy about it. However, I worried that name wouldn’t really be universally appealing, so I went with “Snow Cookies” instead.

For those of you that might not know, the Midwest recently (i.e. this week) experienced a somewhat severe blizzard. Some of the media labeled it a “Blizzaster” (yep…), and other called it the “Snowpocalypse” (hmm…). Whatever you call it, we can all agree that it was a crazy bad storm. We’d been hearing warnings for several days, but I never really place much weight in pre-storm hysteria. However, we we all got released from work at 2pm yesterday (and it started to snow), I started to wonder if we really were going to have a bizzard… how exciting (and possibly scary… but mostly just exciting)!

Kirk picked me up at 2:30, and by then it was snowing pretty hard. And get this: a drive that should normally take 20 minutes (tops) took 2 hours. Traffic was insane. Every major street downtown (and heading in all directions) was blocked with people trying to get home before the storm got really bad.

Kirk and I rolled home at 4:30pm, and hunkered down for the night. He made spaghetti with a tomato/spicy sausage sauce. It was tasty.

As it got dark, the wind started to pick up. It was whistling and our windows were rattling and shaking like crazy. We also noticed that it was so windy that the curtains were blowing a little. Our windows are sealed incredibly well (not). We got out the painter’s tape and taped up the drafty joints. It was a really good time (meaning it was not that fun). Looking out the windows, it felt like we really were in the middle of a snowpocalypse. At this point in time I still wasn’t sure if I was going to go into work the following day (today). I mean really, we live in Chicago. It snows quite often during the winter – and people still go into work and the kids still go off to school. I should have figured that since the schools had already declared that they would be closed, I likely wouldn’t need to go to work. The thunder-snow should have been an indicator as well (thunder and lightening during a snow storm).

Kirk and I went to bed and when morning rolled around, I knew I wouldn’t be going into work. We woke up to news of closed highways, stranded motorists, non-operating train lines, buried cars, etc… We spent a few hours watching the news and catching up on the most recent coverage of the Chicago Blizzard of 2011 (can I just say – - – I felt so bad for the motorists that got stranded on Lake Shore Drive for the night. I can’t imagine being stuck in my car sitting next to Lake Michigan in the middle of a blizzard).

I started the day off by catching up on some work, and then spent the afternoon doing some baking. What else would you do if you were stuck inside? Hence the birth of the Snow Cookies.

Because this has been such an intense storm, I felt like it needed to be commemorated in some way, and what better way than as a cookie? My plan is to bring these into work, but since it’s still up in the air as to whether people will be able to trudge through the remaining snow to get into work tomorrow, I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of these cookies (except maybe eat them all…)

Snow Cookies (makes about 2 dozen)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

For the icing and decoration:

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (give or take a tablespoon or two)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Imitation Butter Extract

Directions

• Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees.
• Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats (or parchment paper).
• Whisk together the flour, shredded coconut, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Whisk together the oil, egg, whipping cream, vanilla and almond extracts in a small bowl. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand-mixer – I just love my stand mixer so much!), beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy and pale in color, about 2 minutes.
• Beat the egg mixture into the butter and sugar mixture on medium speed until well-blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. The dough will be very soft.
• Using a 1-tablespoon-sized scoop, portion the dough into balls into the prepared baking sheets, 12 to a sheet. Make sure each cookie is flattened slightly, by pressing each cookie into a 2-3 inch circle.
• Bake the cookies until they are lightly golden and crisp at the edges, about 12-14 minutes, rotating the sheets from front to back and top to bottom about halfway through baking.
• Let the cookies cool in the sheets for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• When the cookies have cooled, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, imitation butter, and salt in a small bowl. Add the heavy cream in tablespoon batches – you may need more or less to get the right “spreadable” consistency depending on how dry the air is….
• Put your shredded coconut into an easily accessible bowl.
• Spread each cookie evenly with icing (about 1 tsp) and sprinkle generously with the coconut. Let the icing dry for several hours before serving.
• Store in an airtight container for no more than 1 week (though really, I can’t see them lasting that long).