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Recipe Archive: Recipe

November 20, 2009

Martha Stewart's Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Vegetarians need gourmet Thanksgivings too! I personally am thankful for Martha Stewart and this sensational meat-free menu plan. I will never forget the Thanksgiving when my mother made broccoli salad for my vegetarian boyfriend at the time, complete with plenty of chopped bacon. I chalk it up to true lack of knowledge about non-meat eaters. In her mind, broccoli wasn't a meat, and the bacon added flavor! This menu is a beautiful meal that needs nothing to shine except fresh vegetables made with love!

November 13, 2009

Maya Marom's cooking blog, Bezakalim

The other day I came across Maya Marom's cooking blog, Bezakalim, and her photos are gorgeous. They capture those small, satisfying moments that, when added up, make cooking such a soothing activity: The vibrant purple stain left on a worn wooden chopping block after cutting a red onion, ripples of sweetened condensed milk being poured over rich vanilla ice cream, the dry ingredients in a bowl before they're mixed, creating a patchwork landscape of peaks and valleys. The blog is written in Hebrew, which I can't read, so in order to find out more about it, I wrote to Maya. She wrote back:

"Bazek" means "dough" in Hebrew, and "alim" means "violent." This is an intentional misspelling of a bazekalim which means "puff pastry." A kind of a word-play to show off my no-fuss recipe policy.
The blog is directed at people who can't cook, or don't like to cook. I take step-by-step pictures of everything, and test each recipe a lot of times to make sure it is completely foolproof. I also designed and built the blog from scratch (I am a web-designer by day).

I am from Israel, and have been running the blog for three years now. Last year, I was contacted by the editor of Yediot Ahronot (Israel's leading daily newspaper) and was offered to write a weekly food column, which is now published every Wednesday in the lifestyle section.

Although I feel the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, if you would like a little help decoding the Hebrew recipes, you may use the Google Translate function. it is far from perfect, and the page has left-to-right issues, but better than total gibberish :)

November 10, 2009

Baking with Persimmons

Persimmons just shout "autumn" to me. Just the sight of those stark branches against the sky dotted with bright fruit sends me straight into cozy mode. Aran over at Cannelle et Vanille has not one but two amazing-sounding recipes for persimmon fans, as well as some fun recollections of the role persimmons played in her childhood. (I have similar memories of raw hachiya persimmons literally sucking the life out of my mouth; it took me a while before I was brave enough to fall in love with the sweetness of a raw fuyu persimmon in a winter salad.) I'm always a sucker for olive oil cake, and while I have never heard of a verrine before, it uses mascarpone, so I'm sold!

How-To: Grown-Up Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate is a childhood classic. One of my fondest memories as a child was slurping half-melted whipped cream off the top of a warm mug of cocoa. I'd beg to have it right off the stove, but it was always too hot for gulping. Instead I'd have to sip it and then savor the cool whipped cream against my tongue. We all remember this moment as kids, right? As I have grown, however, my tastes have changed. What I like now is freshly beaten whipped cream, extra-rich chocolate, and, of course, amaretto. Adding a shot of liquor to this decadent treat pushes the experience over the top. It updates my warm childhood memories in a wonderfully grown-up way. I recommend making a double batch of this hot chocolate, and serving the kids first! Send them off to bed, then relax with your own unadulterated cup.

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November 3, 2009

Sweet Potato Gnocchi Recipe

I have a story to share. The other day, I bought some pumpkin gnocchi, and last night I decided to make it with sage fried in brown butter to cheer up my sick husband. I checked my trusty copy of How to Cook Everything for the cooking time (they're done one minute after they rise to the surface), and put the water on to boil. Now, as the book said, the gnocchi rose to the surface, bubbling merrily away. It was 7:46 pm. I'll just give it an extra minute, I said to myself, to make sure they're really done. At 7:48, I reached for the pot to drain it into my colander, and all that was left was pumpkin water. (We had angel hair pasta with sage and brown butter sauce and it was delicious, thank you very much.)

So, this is all to say that despite my disastrous relationship with gnocchi, this sweet potato gnocchi recipe over at Sassy Radish looks good enough to tempt me to not just get back on the horse and cook gnocchi again, but to make it from scratch! But don't worry, I'll be watching that clock like a hawk.

October 25, 2009

Dark and Snow-Stormy

Goli makes a spectacular Dark and Stormy, and when you make one with snow, I think that it's only fair to call it a Dark and Snow-Stormy.

Dark and Snow-Stormy
1 1/2 ounces of rum
4 ounces ginger beer
Generous squeeze of lime

Pack the glass with snow, and then add the ginger beer. Pour in the rum, and add the squeeze of lime.

October 15, 2009

Recipe: New Mexican Frijoles

Growing up in northern New Mexico has left an indelible mark on my senses, particularly my sense of taste. I love spicy food, I hate cilantro (it's not commonly used in New Mexican cooking), and I'll always pick pintos over black beans.

In the fall, you could walk into any kitchen in almost any northern NM village and find a pot of pintos beans simmering on the stovetop. If you were even luckier, there'd be fresh red chile sauce simmering next to the beans, some homemade flour tortillas wrapped in foil in the oven, and maybe even some crumbled chorizo sitting in a skillet nearby.

A pot of frijoles is easy and economical to make, plus fills your tummy with something yummy and satiates the craving for warm, nourishing food I get when the weather starts to cool down. The only hard part of the recipe at all is that you need to soak the dried beans overnight, so plan ahead!

When I was setting out to write down the recipe and document the process, it got me thinking about other New Mexican dishes I'd like to share -- calabacitas, posole, homemade tortillas, sopapillas, and more. Stay tuned!

Recipe: Pinto Beans

Ingredients
Pinto beans about 2 cups dried
Stock or water
Onion 1 medium, chopped
Garlic 3-4 cloves, minced
Red chile powder New Mexico is best. Found in the Hispanic section of the grocery store, usually in cellophane packets.
Vegetable oil for sauteing garlic and onions (optional)

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October 2, 2009

Olive Oil, Rye, and Stone Fruit Cake

I have documented my obsession with olive oil cake on this blog before, but this olive oil cake recipe from Kitchen Sidecar takes it to a new level by adding rye flour and stone fruit, another passion of mine (the stone fruit, not the rye, although I love the weighty taste that must add to the whole business). I love Katie's attitude: taking a classic recipe and throwing in other ingredients to tweak the flavor. Next in the oven? "I am so positively floured up on this cake, I may try sweet corn, brown butter, and polenta," says she. Yum!

October 1, 2009

Easy Earl Grey Ice Cream

Howtoons has announced the winner of their Top Chef Ice Cream contest, and it's a delicious-sounding Earl Grey ice cream recipe. (The best part about making ice cream the Howtoons way is that you don't need an ice cream maker; it's a great technique to use with kids.) I like the suggestion for espresso chocolate chips for extra caffeine action. (Or if you are making this with kids, maybe not!)

Recipe: Quince Paste

I'm lucky enough to live in a place where a local caterer specializes in Paella, and it's really out of this world. I've been to several events where the Paella King has served the main course as well as appetizers, and the whole experience is a real winner.

I'm pretty sure making Paella is out of my league (I don't even have that big flat pan), but the Manchego cheese and Quince Paste appetizer is something I thought I might be able to manage. When a friend offered up some ripe quince off her tree and a copy of a Quince Paste recipe, I decided to give it a whirl. Who knew it would take me 2 days and about 8 hours of work? And who knew it would be such a hit with friends and family?

I'm just including the recipe my friend gave me (which she got from Epicurious), but I'll offer a few pointers and observations first. The whole process took a long time for me, mostly because I didn't factor in steps like letting the baked fruit cool, so it got too late and I had to spend the next night after work finishing up, etc. And the step of pushing the paste through the fine sieve was messy and aggravating. I later talked to two other friends who make Quince Paste every year and they never do this step for what it's worth. My first batch of Quince Paste was so well received that it lasted less than a week, and I had made 6 small bricks of the stuff. So I bit the bullet and made a second batch the next week, while the process was still fresh in my mind and the food mill was still out on the counter.

For those readers unfamiliar with quince, it's a large fruit that resembles a cross between an apple and a pear, but the skin is tougher and often covered with a yellow powder. It's tart, so baking or jams are the best way to use it.

The combination of the sweet Quince Paste and salty Manchego cheese seems to be popular in Spain, Portugal, and all over South America.

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September 29, 2009

Homemade Vanilla Extract Taste Test

I love vanilla, and so of course really good homemade vanilla extract is the holy grail. We ran a vanilla extract DIY in Volume 07 of CRAFT, but I love this "semi-scientific" approach to testing out homemade vanilla recipes on Build/Make/Craft/Bake. (And what better way to taste test vanilla than in whipped cream??)

September 17, 2009

Sweet Paul's Chanterelle and Spring Onion Frittata

I don't recall how I found Sweet Paul's blog, but I just adore his styling, his food, and his crafts.This recipe for frittata is baked in a cupcake tin. What an easy way to create a bite sized and pretty dish. The sophisticated look belies its simplicity. The photo by Colin Cooke is also just as yummy!

3D Knitter's Gift Tag

CRAFT: Cozy Up to Yarn

3D Knitter's Gift Tag
By Jamie Chan

Often times when I knit a project I have a wee bit of yarn left over. Not enough to knit but just enough to keep for embellishment. This quick tutorial will show you how to make a cute 3-dimensional gift tag with your leftover bits of yarn. The perfect way to send off a knitted gift or that special skein of yarn to a friend!

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September 13, 2009

Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Strawberry shortcake is one of my favorite desserts, but assembly and serving of the traditional cakes and piles of berries and cream for each individual can be daunting. This Strawberry Shortcake Cake makes everything much more simple. Pioneer Woman's recipes are lovely, with perfect photographs and easy steps. Bake this cake and relish the last bit of summer.

September 10, 2009

Howtoons Ice Cream Contest!

Howtoons is having an end-of-summer ice cream contest! This would be a really fun project to work on with your kids: using the super-simple, no-ice-cream-maker-required basic Howtoons ice cream how-to, and then embellish it to come up with your own dreamy flavors. The contest end date is September 21st.

(For more Howtoons fun, check out this Pinwheel Howtoon!)

Recipe: Three-Quarter Fruit Crisp

Until I started making this recipe several years back, I'd never realized how much people (myself included) like fruit crisp. Of any kind. Seriously, take any fruit, some sugar or other sweetener, and some crunchy, carby topping, and bake in the oven. It's always a crowd-pleaser, especially when the nights turn slightly chilly and you can feel autumn in the air.

I call this recipe the Three-Quarter Fruit Crisp because it uses three-quarter measurements of most of the ingredients, and calling it that helps me remember how to make it. I adapted this from a recipe I found years ago in a magazine that was maybe called Organic Style, but I don't think it's in print anymore. You can use any fruit that you like — some recommended combos on the old recipe card are apple and cranberry, pear and quince, and peach and blueberry.

Supplies for blackberry-picking expedition; Arlo is ready for some serious berry picking!

I used blackberries, which we went out and picked as a family outing. I'm not sure if the kids look forward to doing this every year, but they don't grumble too much and they both love the end result — return on their investment, as it were. Besides the hard-won blackberries, I threw in a cup of peaches, which were about to turn mushy on our kitchen counter. I've also made this with just apples, which I cooked in a pan for about 10 minutes beforehand for a sweeter, mushier, but still delicious experience.

Blackberries in their natural habitat; hard at work and thinking of the yummy prize at the end.

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September 3, 2009

Book Review: Cupcake Kit

I love cupcakes, and I love baking, so I'm not quite sure why I had never actually tried to make cupcakes. My mini muffin tin holds tea lights. I didn't even own a regular-sized muffin tin. But my favorite cupcake place, Love at First Bite, is across the San Francisco Bay in Berkeley, and I just don't get there that often. That's probably a good thing for my waistline, but nonetheless, I jumped at the chance to try out the Cupcake Kit by Elinor Klivans from Chronicle Books.

The kit includes a few hundred adorable cupcake liners (half the reason to buy the kit!), a small cookbook with a bunch of really tasty-looking recipes, and a pastry bag with tips--pretty much everything you need except for the ingredients and the muffin tin.

And how are the recipes? They're great (and you can even peep a few for free on the Chronicle site): delicious, unusual (chocolate butterfly anyone?), and well-written. They're full of good tips about what to expect and how to get the best from your ingredients. The author warned that the batter would look curdled when I added lemon juice if the cream wasn't room temperature, and I'm glad she warned me so I didn't panic; the cupcakes I made turned out fine.

I tried out the Meyer Lemon Cupcake recipe with a friend, and I was thrilled with how easy it was and how delicious they were. (Case in point: there are only four cupcakes in my photo because a house guest ate two in the middle of the night without knowing they were waiting for a morning photo shoot in my kitchen!) I don't think I will ever make cream cheese frosting without lemon zest ever again; it's that delicious.

So here I am, still addicted to cupcakes, and now with the means to make them in my own house. Uh oh.

August 27, 2009

Recipe: Low-fat Banana Bread

I made two loaves of this banana bread Sunday night, as a back-to-school breakfast treat. On Monday morning, an entire half a loaf was gone, and I got up at 7 a.m. I was, however, able to sneak part of a loaf out of the house and into the office; it too was gone in a short span of time.

I can't really keep track of the latest nutritional advise, so I'm no longer sure if it's a good thing that it's low fat, but the spices make it really tasty, and it's a great recipe for me to use up items that would otherwise go to waste, namely overripe bananas and about-to-expire yogurt. If you try it, please let me know how it was in the Comments!

A couple of notes:

Whenever a banana gets too ripe in our house, I just toss it into the freezer. I don't peel it first, I don't wrap it up. Then when I get 3 or 4 saved up, I take them out and put them in a big bowl. Once they thaw partway, it's a snap to peel them and then mash them up with a fork.

I've used everything from the peach yogurt that nobody in the house liked, to leftover sour cream, to regular milk with half a lemon squeezed into it (faux buttermilk), and it's always worked out fine.

My kids don't like chunks in their bread, but I've always thought some nuts and/or raisins would be a nice addition.

Low-Fat Banana Bread

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar (try 1/2 cup white and 1/4 cup brown
1+ cup ripe bananas, mashed (this is maybe 3 or 4 medium bananas)
1/3 cup yogurt or 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 T vegetable oil
1 T vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or a combo of flours)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 to 1/4 tsp powdered ginger

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a regular-sized loaf pan, and then dust with flour. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until the mixture is thick and light, about 5 minutes. Mix in the bananas, yogurt, oil, vanilla, and spices. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and beat until just blended. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake about 1 hour, until the bread is golden brown on top and a toothpick or other tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool, or until a ravenous member of your household saunters into the kitchen and finds it.

August 4, 2009

How-To: Elder Scottish Rose Cocktail

I love to host summer cocktail parties on my deck. And my current favorite drink is called the Elder Scottish Rose. It is both pretty and delicious, with a fun and easy garnish that impresses everyone. Exotic liquors are popular and many unique imports have become available to amateur mixologists. This drink gets the first part of its name from a French imported liquor called St. Germain. It's made of elderflowers, and it has the sweet and subtle flavor of perfumed blossoms. I've combined it with Hendrick's Scottish Gin, a gin that has the strong flavors of roses and cucumbers.

When I started seriously tasting the Hendrick's, I realized that a few crushed rose petals would be a pretty addition, and help enhance the gin's flavors. The rose petals in this drink add considerably to the aromatics. Eating a rose petal can be a bitter experience, but letting their bruised petals seep into a fresh cold drink is the perfect way to incorporate them.

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July 22, 2009

Homemade Treats for Pups (and Persons)

CRAFT: We <3 Pets

Homemade Treats for Pups (and Persons)
By Wendy Tremayne and Mikey Sklar
Holy Scrap Hot Springs blog.holyscraphotsprings.com/

At the Holy Scrap homestead in Truth or Consequences, N.M., we are engaged in a never-ending cycle that replaces the consumer products we are accustomed to buying with a homemade, improved version of them. Little by little our quality of life improves as we leave behind processed, packaged, expensive, and often toxic goods and discover natural, simple, inexpensive goods that we enjoy making.

This summer, after we adopted a Red Heeler pup who we named Sesame, we pointed our industriousness to the ever-important doggie biscuit. The biscuit, we've realized, is central to dog and dog owner happiness. Not only is it a way to express thanks to our loyal friends, but it also neutralizes barky and aggressive dogs encountered in the neighborhood, so be sure and carry a few extra for making new friends.

First we listed the qualities of a good biscuit: inexpensive, nutritious, enjoyable to our doggie, edible to us (why not share the treats?), can be cooked in a solar oven, and quick and easy to make from natural, simple ingredients.

What we came up with is the Open Sesame Biscuit, a sweet little treat liked by canine and Homo sapiens alike (even if a little bland for the people palate, it will kill the hunger pangs on long hikes). The recipe makes about 50 to 75 bite-sized snappy, crunchy biscuits.

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Recipe Home | Next >

Craft:

Martha Stewart's Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Maya Marom's cooking blog, Bezakalim

Baking with Persimmons

How-To: Grown-Up Hot Chocolate

Sweet Potato Gnocchi Recipe

Dark and Snow-Stormy

Recipe: New Mexican Frijoles

Olive Oil, Rye, and Stone Fruit Cake

Easy Earl Grey Ice Cream

Recipe: Quince Paste

Homemade Vanilla Extract Taste Test

Sweet Paul's Chanterelle and Spring Onion Frittata

3D Knitter's Gift Tag

Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Howtoons Ice Cream Contest!

Recipe: Three-Quarter Fruit Crisp

Book Review: Cupcake Kit

Recipe: Low-fat Banana Bread

How-To: Elder Scottish Rose Cocktail

Homemade Treats for Pups (and Persons)

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