Nutella-ish

If you're a fan of Nutella read on...
I adapted my own recipe from this blog I came across.
This is what I did:
1/2 c. toasted hazelnuts (because that is all I had)
4 oz semi sweet chocolate chips (melted)
2 T. cocoa powder
a glob of coconut oil

1. Dump it all in the food processor until mixed/whirled/pureed.
2. Sneak taste tests without children present to notice chocolate is involved.
3. Show extreme restraint in not finishing it all before Dr. Daddy gets home.
Easy (except for the last step).

Pass on the goodness

In case you were wondering how to get more vitamin C into your diet, here is a very yummy recipe that our family loves:
Lemon Cream Pasta from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. The ingredients are basic, and the cooking is pretty easy. And it turns out with a lovely strong lemon flavor. Other than adding a lot more garlic (just for fun because I felt like hitting some garlic with a knife), I didn't change a thing. It's that good.

Recipe

The other day Dr. Daddy and I were at Costco and decided to get some bagels for breakfast as a change. Of course, then we realized we wanted cream cheese to go with the bagels. Not wanting to make another stop, we just got a Costco-sized amount of cream cheese. Now here's a question for you... how many packets of bagels would you have to buy to use up 3 lbs of cream cheese?
I don't know the answer. All I know is that it makes much more sense to use cream cheese to make.... CHEESECAKE!
And now I want to take a moment to give thanks to the internet without which I would not have this lovely new recipe:
Sun dried tomato and havarti cheesecake
They say it is meant to be an appetizer. We ate it (with salads and crackers) for dinner. It was yummy and very easy to make. Success!

Throw together brownies

Last night after a more-stressful-than-it-should-have-been bed time routine, Dr. Daddy said he could either eat a whole lot of ice cream or some brownies. We generally don't have ice cream on hand, (or in the freezer) and I didn't think he really wanted to go out to get some, so I volunteered to make brownies. I based it on a real recipe, but I have made that recipe so many times I feel comfortable venturing out into additions and "fakin' it". So this is what I made:
Brownies
5-6 T. dark cocoa powder (I lost count so I threw in an extra tablespoon just in case)
1 T. instant coffee
~1/4 t. chilli powder (just the straight chilli powder, not the stuff with cumin, onion and garlic too)
1/2 c. shortening (we're low on coconut oil so I used palm oil)
---mix together
2 eggs
---mix
~3/4 c. turbinado sugar
---mix
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
---mix
Pour into greased 9" square pan. Sprinkle a handful of sliced almonds over top. Bake at 325 for ~15min (if you like your brownies gooey). When they are almost done, spoon remainder of container of cream cheese (~2 oz) over top into little globs, let it melt in the oven. Then spread it a little more. Eat it while it is still warm and gooey and I guarantee a bad day will go away.

But... it also makes little babies very happy to still be directly attached to the pipeline and reluctant to leave. (Although said baby will thank you with an entertaining happy dance.)

recipe link

If you are at all interested in making your own bread, follow this link for Super-Flax Whole-Wheat Boule bread. I love this recipe.
Its easy.
It tastes good.
It has minimal ingredients.
It makes a hearty round loaf of bread that is full of the wonders of flax seeds.
(Google flax seeds if you're interested in all the amazing powers it has.)
This time I dumped in some fresh cranberries that I had. We'll see how that turns out.
I would take a picture but the camera is packed, ready to go to Tayta's house.
Oh, and just a word of caution, one of the wonders of flax seeds is its fiber- it works the digestive system. So don't eat the whole loaf in one sitting, or else you may be doing a lot of sitting... if you know what I mean. ;)

UPDATE: The cranberries add a fun sour zing to the bread- I would include them again.

Apple Sticky Buns

If you're looking for a good start on the sugar, carb-fest of Thanksgiving, these sticky buns are the way to go. Make ahead the night before and then heat up some for breakfast. Yum!

3-1/4 c. all purpose flour (I'm sure I did at least half whole wheat, if not more)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. butter, cubed
1 egg
1 1/2 c. finely chopped apples

Topping
1 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. butter (I think I did some coconut oil for this)
3/4 c. walnuts
1 T. water
1 t. ground cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 c. flour, yeast, sugar and salt. In a saucepan, heat the milk, water and butter to 120-130 degrees. Add to dry ingredients; beat until just moistened. Add egg; beat until just smooth. Stir in remaining flour and apples. Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 min.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the topping ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring until blended. Pour into an ungreased 9x13 in pan. Stir dough down. Spoon walnut-sized pieces of dough over nut mixture. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 1 min. before inverting onto a large serving platter.
Yield: 12-16 servings (who are they kidding?)

Pumpkin Butter

I decided to keep the "autumnal baking" theme and make pumpkin butter. I used this recipe and mostly followed the directions.
Instead of canned pumpkin I bought a couple and baked them into puree. I did a little more apple juice, used only about 1 c. of sugar, half brown, half turbinado and added the tiniest pinch of salt.

The result? Well, other than a huge mess in the kitchen as is boiled... I'm not sure if I just had mealy pumpkins or all the ground spices threw the texture off. I suspect it was the pumpkins, but texture seemed a little grainy- not quite what I was hoping for. As far as taste- it was passable. I think apple butter has more complexity in flavor than this pumpkin butter. Seeing as I have quite a lot of it, I think I might use a good portion of it in baking.

UPDATE:
We had the pumpkin butter on homemade bread with crunchy almond butter (also homemade, so very crunchy) and I didn't notice the texture of the pumpkin butter. Also, the flavor was a nice compliment to the almond butter. So- don't eat it straight out of the jar, have it with something that has more texture!

Spinach Recipe

Last pregnancy I was all about broccoli. I don't know why. But Eirena is a total broccoli lover now so I'm not complaining. This time it seems to be spinach. I'm weird, aren't I? (Where are the cravings for ice cream, chocolate, donuts, etc.?) Anyway, here is what I make when I want some good ol' green stuff. It is based on the recipe for Palak Paneer in case anyone is curious.

-1 bag frozen spinach
- steam this until hot all the way through, I usually boil a minimal amount of water in a pot, dump the spinach in, put a lid on it and let it get hot
- once it is hot, pour into your blender
- add a bunch of cilantro and a handful of fresh mint leaves (gotta have the mint leaves)
- puree
- chop 1-2 cloves of garlic and a large knob of ginger (you can add some chili flakes if you want)
- fry the garlic and ginger
- pour in spinach puree
- add ~2 T. tomato puree, blend in
- when the spinach is bubbly (and splattering all over your stove), add some yogurt ~1/4 c.
- you can also add ~2-3 T. cream or 1/2 & 1/2 at this point, but if not, just add more yogurt. Its not supposed to look like creamed spinach, but it rounds out the flavor so add until you feel you have a round flavor :)
- if you want to make this into a main dish, add the paneer now, otherwise this can be an easy side/veggie dish. I made this to go with chicken biryanithe other day.

Enjoy!

Yummy Fish

I'm not a big fish person. I grew up inland. Generally my idea of eating fish is going to a high elevation lake, camping nearby, catching the fish and cooking it up right there. I'm not opposed to buying it, I just don't know what to do with it at home, save for a good curry.
Anyway, rainbow trout was on sale this past week so I braved the smell and bought one, on the condition that Dr. Daddy cook it. I can't give you a precise recipe, but I will attempt to give you guidelines for how he cooked it. It was very good.

1 trout
juice of 4 limes
butter
salt
pepper
Szechuan peppercorns
garlic
ginger
Melt everything (except the fish) in a saucepan on the stove, pour some over fish. While the flavors sink in, chop onion and a tomato, cook with some chopped green beans (frozen) add some of the sauce to the beans. Stuff the fish with the beans & marinade, broil until done.

It was so good Eirena, who prefers less meat and more veggies, asked for seconds. And wanted some for lunch today too. I hope you try it!

Red Pepper Walnut Dip

I promised this recipe to a friend and so I figured I would just put it out for anyone to use. The red pepper refers to chili peppers.
1 c. walnuts
1 T. olive oil
1 T. pomegranate molasses or lemon juice (I've done both, your choice)
1 t. sugar (I skipped this)
1/2 t. cumin
1 T. paprika
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. Aleppo pepper or cayenne pepper

Put everything in a food processor and blend to a chunky paste. If it is too thick, add 1-2 T. water or lemon juice.

*Aleppo pepper I think has one of the highest rating for heat index of chilies, so this is supposed to be spicy. However, you can reduce the cayenne or Aleppo pepper to ~1/2 t. and still get a little bite without clearing the sinuses.

We like to have this with hummus, pita bread and a salad.
Tonight I dumped in a can of olives that I had on hand (for something that I forgot to add the olives to!) and it gave it a nice flavor- a little more mellow than usual.

Squash

So I don't REALLY like squash. It's alright, in small doses, but it isn't my favorite vegetable. But we planted a couple of rows of it in our garden this year. (Last year our neighbor's squash invaded our garden and planted itself and they were very happy for us to eat the squash on our side of the fence.) But this year, I actually planted it, not because I love it so much, but because I suspected it would be easy to grow. I was right. It is taking over our garden. And moving into the neighbor's yard (different state, different neighbors). But anyway, so we have lovely squash...and lots of it. I gave a bag full to a friend on Sunday and there is still more to give away, and I'm eating what I can.
So here is how I cooked up the squash today, which I thought turned out quite well.

1 chicken breast marinaded with:
~1/4 t. gr. cumin
~1/4 t. gr. coriander
juice of 1 lemon
~1/2 t. paprika
salt, pepper
~2 T. fresh cilantro (from our garden!)
marinade the chicken

Chop squash into smallish pieces, place in olive oil greased baking dish. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over squash. Dump chicken and marinade over it. Broiled until chicken is cooked.

I added the chicken to a salad and had the squash on the side. With the juice of a full lemon, it was definitely lemony, I didn't mind, but you prefer a more subtle flavor, maybe only do half a lemon.

Recipe Time!

So y'all know we are cheesecake fans around here. Usually that means dessert cheesecake. But I actually found a recipe for an appetizer/main dish cheesecake.

Savory Swiss Cheeseccake

1 c. finely crushed thin wheat crackers
3 T. butter, melted
12 oz. cream cheese
16 oz. plain yogurt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/4 t. dried basil (of course I did more)
1/8 t. dried rosemary, crushed (of course I did more)
2 c. /8 oz. shredded Swiss cheese
assorted crackers

In a bowl, combine cracker crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom of a 9-in. springform pan; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the yogurt, egg, egg yolk, basil and rosemary; beat on low speed until just blended. Stir in Swiss cheese.
Pour into crust. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 40-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack for 10 min. Carefully run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen.; cool 1 hr longer. Refrigerate overnight. Eat with crackers.

[The second time I made this I dumped in a little extra blue cheese that we had. This is not recommended. ]
We like to eat this with crackers and a large salad. It is nice for a warm summer day when you want a simple meal. Of course, it helps to think of this ahead of time, otherwise you're serving sloopy cheesecake. But naturally I always plan ahead :) .

Enjoy!

Apples to Apple Butter

Someone told of a store here that had a special this past week on apples. Special like $.47 for a pound of apples. How could I resist? The next day Eirena and I headed over there and I loaded up a bag with apples. I thought it was a nice sized bag, but not a crazy amount. I took it to the cashier. She looked at me wide-eyed and asked what I was going to do with all of these apples. I said, "Make apple butter". (I then looked at my receipt and discovered I had bought 9+ lb of apples!)

Anyway, so I did in fact make apple butter over the weekend. (I already about 3lbs of apples at home, I used 4 lbs for the apple butter, so that leaves me with... ~8 lbs of apples still in my fridge.--Did I just embarrass myself with my lack of math skills?)

Back to the apple butter. I vaguely followed a recipe I found online.
This is what I did:
~4lbs of apples, cored & chopped
1/2 gallon of water
Cook until you get tender apples.
*The recipe said to core the apples, but then cook them in apple cider. Since I didn't have cider and couldn't bear to trash all the peels, I left the peels on and cooked them in water. The recipe also said that the water should just cover the apples. I think it was too much water. Maybe 1/2 that amount and just stirring a few times to get all the apples cooked would be better.

After the apples are tender puree them in the blender. Put them back in the pot, bring to a simmer. Slowly add ~1/2 c. sugar per lb of apples, 2 t. cinnamon, 1 t. clove and some crushed allspice (the allspice was my own idea), as well as the juice of one lemon. Then you just let it simmer away until it is thicker than applesauce and spreadable.
*Because I followed the recipe for the amount of water, it took several hours for the butter to reduce. Normally I think it is only supposed to take 1-2hrs.
*You want to stir occasionally to make sure it isn't sticking to the bottom of the pot.
I think I probably got close to 50 oz out of this recipe. (And little tasting experts think it is palatable!)

Recipe time

For a Valentine's Day potluck I made a Mocha Truffle Cheesecake. (It was the same recipe that we used for Dr. Daddy's PhD defense party.) Oh so good! Even people that don't like coffee liked this cheesecake.
If you're privileged enough to live near a Trader Joe's, do a chocolate Cats "graham cracker" crust. Otherwise, just a regular graham cracker crust will do.
I followed this recipe for the filling, from Taste of Home. For the instant coffee I actually used instant decaf (because I knew Eirena would want some). I baked it for the right amount of time and then I left it in the oven (oven turned off) with the oven door open a bit and let it cool that way. It didn't crack at all and I was very impressed.
When Dr. Daddy made this for his party he put a sour cream ganache topping on it. I wanted the cheesecake to stand out, so I didn't do that. I did melt white chocolate chips with the intention of just drizzling it over the cheesecake, but I have deficiencies in the drizzling catagory. Instead I spread it on and it looked okay, but when I cut it, it just flaked off. So... meh. If you can drizzle that would probably look impressive.
Overall though... scrumptious, if I do say so myself!


Green Beans with coconut and lime

One night Dr. Daddy was helping me cook. I asked him to make the beans up. Since we were having curry, he did something like this:
Heat oil.
Add green beans.
Add some dessicated coconut.
Add some curry powder.
Add some lime (or lemon) juice and zest.
Add some salt.
Cook until beans are tender.

It tasted pretty good. I think it would have been better if he put a little coconut milk in with the beans to round out the flavor.

Pets & Pesto

Do 100% biodegradable balloons biodegrade in intestines or just out in the environment?

Doesn't Efendim look handsome here?
(This is a picture for those that still don't believe we have two cats!)

Finally, Dr. Daddy comes home tomorrow-hurrah! I usually make a special meal for him. If he is able to be in contact, he may have a special request. Sometimes it is lasagna. This time, it is pizza. Almost all the time, when we make our own pizza, we make pesto sauce instead of red sauce. We LOVE this pesto recipe. It is really good and pretty cheap if you happen to have your own basil and parsley plants.

Basil Pesto
1 c. fresh basil
1/2 c. fresh parsley
1 large clove garlic
1/4 c. nuts (almonds, walnuts, pine nuts...whatever. I think I prefer walnuts or pinenuts)
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese (back when we lived near Trader Joe's I used the actual cheese, but now in our sans TJ life, the powdery stuff from the deli has to suffice. I think it is still paremsan, just not freshly grated in your own kitchen!)
pinch of salt
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

Stick it all in a food processor and whiz away. Store in the fridge until use.
It freezes pretty well too, if you want to make a whole lot at one time. We have used it on pizza, on noodles, on chili, pretty much anything that you'd like to give a little kick to. Enjoy!

Bread recipe!

I made this bread to go with our cream of mushroom/wild rice soup. I was going to make regular whole wheat bread, but found this recipe in a Taste of Home little cookbook and decided to try it instead. I think it turned out well and was very easy.

Dilly Casserole Bread

1 pkg (1/4oz.) active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water
1 c. cottage cheese, lukewarm
2 T. sugar
1T. instant minced onion (I did dehydrated onion flakes)
1 T. butter
2 T. dill seed (I did dill weed/leaf)
1 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
1 egg
2 1/4- 2 1/2 c. all purpose flour (I think I did about 1 1/2c. whole wheat)
Additional butter

Dissolve yeast in water; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, sugar, onion, butter, dill, salt, baking soda and egg; mix until blended. Stir in yeast mixture. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Cover and let rise in warm place for about 1 hour. Stir down. Turn into a well greased 8 in. round casserole, about 1- 1 1/2 qt. size. Let rise 30-40 min. bake at 350 F. for 35-45 minutes. Brush with butter. Cut in wedges to serve.
[This says it yields 10 servings, but I couldn't figure out how to cut the bread into 10 pieces and get them out whole. I manged 8 pieces that are a very good size. ]

Very Yummy!

The Nourishing Gourmet: Decadent Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream


I made this for our Thanksgiving celebration. Everyone that tried it, liked it, so either they're all a bunch of fibbers, or it really is good. I'm going for the latter! I tastes sort of like apumpkin spice latte, except cold.

Coconut Ice-cream

This recipe is so good, it will suffice for today and tomorrow's post. Actually I will be having a phone chat with our adoption case worker tomorrow while Eirena is down for her nap, so unless something tremendous happens I won't post.
But really, this recipe is good. I got it out of a Thai cookbook Joel brought back from London for me (makes sense, right?) and I think the ounces are for the British system, not American ounces.

Coconut Ice-cream
225 ml (8 fl.oz) coconut milk
175 ml (6 fl. oz) whipping cream
60 g (2 1/2 oz) sugar
3 T. finely chopped tender coconut flesh or 2 T.unsweetened dessicated coconut, toasted
2 eggs

In a saucepan, combine the coconut milk, whipping cram, sugar and coconut flesh and bring to a boil. Beat the eggs in a bowl, then whisk the boiling coconut milk mixture into the egg. Allow to cool.

Pour the mixture into a small loafpan, cover and freeze until firm. Break up the ice cream, then beat in a bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Spoon the mixture back into the tin, cover and freeze for several more hours until firm.

my comments:
I did a double recipe and it nicely filled a regular loaf pan and was mostly firm in 6 hours.
Typing this up I am wondering if I did 2 or 4 eggs. I can't remember, but if it was only two, it turned out well anyway.
I actually had a tender coconut to use, so I did the flesh from that, a can of coconut milk and a little bit of the water from the coconut to make up the full amount for a double recipe.
I did not beat it up once partially frozen- we wanted to eat it and it wasn't really crystallized.
I had to guess on the amount of sugar, and either I put a bit too much in or the coconut was just really naturally sweet and so the recipe could use less. (Or maybe none at all.)
I made a tart! cranberry sauce to go over it, to balance the sweetness.

Overall, really yummy and a very refreshing dessert!

Have your coffee and eat it too!

I like coffee.
I like muffins.
I like cappucino muffins!

1 c. milk
2 T. instant espresso powder or instant coffee (or workout some amount of espresso)
2 c. flour
2/3 c. sugar (I usually do less)
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
8 T. butter, melted and cooled (I usually do oil)
2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon (I usually forget this until its too late)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F & grease the muffin tins.
2. Scald the milk in a small saucepan over med.-high heat. Once bubbles appear around the pan's rim, remove the milk from the heat & stir in the coffee until dissolved. Cool for 5 min.
3. Whisk togetherdry ingredients (except the cinnamon), set aside.
4. Lightly whisk the egg, then whisk in the butter and vanilla until smooth. Whisking all the while, pour milk in a thin stream; continue whisking until blended. Quickly stir in dry ingredients.
5. Pour into muffin tins, sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 18 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

This is one of my favorite muffin recipes. I got it out of a muffin book, the name of which I didn't write down. It is so good even Eirena likes them... oh wait, that's not saying much, is it?

Chimichuri Pork

I got this recipe from a friend who cut it out of a newspaper a while ago, so I have no idea what the original source is, but it is REALLY good!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Chimichuri - 4 servings
1 c. packed flat-leafed parsley
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c. fresh oregano leaves
1/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves
3 cloves garlic
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 t. salt.

Combine the above ingredients in a blender/food processor until smooth. Reserve 1/2 c. of the puree for serving. Pour over 2 lb. pork tenderloins (I just did 4 cuts of pork because that is the way they came from Costco.) Marinate 2-12 hrs, turn occasionally.

Prepare grill for medium heat (or turn the broiler on!). Remove pork from marinade, wipe off excess marinade (I didn't do this and I don't think it hinder the recipe any!). Grill, turning often until cooked, 15-25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

Even Dr. Daddy who isn't a pork fan thought this tasted good. I served it with:

Spinach with Rice (from Greece) serves 4

1 1/2 lb. fresh spinach
6 scallions, cut crosswise
5 T. olive oil
salt
3 T. risotto/med. grain rice
2 T. freshly chopped dill
1 T. fresh lemon juice (I always do more)

trim the spinach and separate the leaves. Wash well and drain. Bring 12 c. water to a rolling boil & drop in spinach leaves. Cook 1-2 min. or until just wilted. Drain, run under cold water & drain in colander.
Put 2 c. water in a wide pot and bring to a boil. Put in scallions, oil, 1/2 t. salt and rice. Cook on med.-high heat, stirring now and then for 10-12 min. or until rice is just done & the liquid is reduced to a little thick sauce (for some reason this always takes longer than 10-12 min. for me). Put in the spinach and 1/2 t. salt. Stir and cook for 2-3 min. Add the dill and lemon juice and stir to mix. Serve hot.

I eat spinach, because I know it is good for me, but I am always happy to disguise its taste. I think this recipe does a great job of making the spinach yummy!

If you try either of these, let me know what you think!