applesauce cookies

This recipe is from the Bob's Red Mill Baking Book. And because I am feeling particularly lazy with this recipe (I made it over a week ago and had every intention of posting it, just hadn't gotten around to doing it), I'll provide a link to the recipe online.

Bob's Red Mill actually has quite an extensive recipe catalog on their website which is great.


Applesauce Cookies: http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=819

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cinnamon roasted nuts

I have a soft spot for cinnamon sugar roasted almonds and walnuts. I don't know what it is, though, they just have such great flavor. A friend let me try a batch she made a while back and I've been hooked ever since. She gave me her recipe as well, so I was in heaven. This past week I bought almonds and walnuts in bulk for the purpose of roasting them up, only it turns out I lost my recipe. A quick google search for a recipe and I was on my way.

Final result:

And now I have 5 cups to devour. Yum :)

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ricotta ice cream

Giada De Laurentiis is one of my favorite chefs. Every recipe of hers I've tried has been amazing. So when I watched her make this ricotta ice cream on her show a while back, I just had to try it for myself.

The ice cream base itself is really easy to make and the whole recipe comes together in no time. Here's a link to her recipe (I didn't bother making the chocolate filled cones, as I usually enjoy my ice cream in a bowl). I used 2% milk instead of whole since that's what I have on had.


The ice cream does have a strange, grainy texture to it from the ricotta cheese. It's a bit hard to get over I think, but the flavor of the ice cream with the chocolate chips goes together nicely.

I accidentally bought double the amount of ricotta cheese because I couldn't remember if the recipe called for 15 ounces or more. I think I'm going to make a blueberry ricotta ice cream next with all those frozen blueberries I've got. I'm definitely looking forward to trying that batch!

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I haven't been cooking much recently, but have made some new additions to my ever growing "to try" recipe collection and even a few new cookbooks. I'm really excited about my new book, Bob's Red Mill, which is filled with hundreds of recipes to bake. I even got it on sale, 50% off at Powell's which is amazing.

If I get with it, I'll start posting older recipes and photos I've still got around.

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Napa Crusted Pork

I really enjoy herb crusted pork for some strange reason. I've made it three times now, twice with gravy, and it tastes so good! A few days back, I decided once again to pull out this trick using herbs and oil I received from my parents' recent trip to Napa Valley.

This is a fun recipe to try out different herb combinations, fresh or dried. Here is my approximate recipe (I lost the real one). Basically, you're looking for a paste-like consistency. I have used this on a large pork loin cooked in the oven and also a tenderloin grilled outside.

Herb Crust for Napa Crusted Pork

3 tbsp. stone ground or Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. dried herbs*
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Make enough of this to coat your meat, whatever size it may be.

*My herbs were a blend of thyme, fennel seed, savory, rosemary, lavender, and cracked bay leaves. I have used an Italian herb blend, as well as a blend of fresh rosemary and thyme.

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budino

Watching an episode of Everyday Italian yesterday afternoon, I found myself inspired to make a chocolate pudding dish I saw. Unfortunately, I later found the recipe online and it required more work than I liked. So I decided to make budino. I actually had it once or twice before after a friend recommended I try a recipe she likes, found on her blog. I made one by Nigella Lawson--I've seen her on Food Network and took a look at one of her cookbooks, she seems to excel at homey, comfort desserts.

Here's a link to her recipe, Budino Di Cioccolato.


I like this recipe because it is quick and relatively easy, plus I had all the ingredients on hand. The consistency is velvety smooth, like the center of a chocolate truffle (like my favorite Moonstruck truffle, Pure Gold), yum! I didn't notice a significant change in texture after letting it cool completely overnight, so I recommend trying it warm and chilled to find what you like best.

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Whole Wheat Pita Bread

I was at Trader Joe's the other day and tried a sample of their quad pack hummus spreads. It was so good I had to buy it! Costs $4.99.

Starting from top, clockwise: Roasted Garlic, Plain, Tomato Basil, Spicy.

To go along with this store bought hummus, I baked up some whole wheat pita bread (that baked into pockets). It's a relatively easy dough to make I found, taking only a few pantry ingredients.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

I got the recipe from a new vegan cookbook I checked out from the library. I decided to look into vegan and vegetarian cookbooks as a way to prepare balanced meals without animal products as the protein source.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Whole Wheat Pita Bread, from "The Complete Vegan Kitchen" by Jannequin Bennett.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 tbsp dry active yeast
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• olive oil

Method

1. In mixing bowl, combine sugar, 1/2 cup of the water, and yeast; let stand about 5 minutes, until foamy.
2. Meanwhile, mix both flours and salt in separate bowl.
3. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups warm water to the yeast mixture, then whisk in half the flour mixture until smooth. Stir/fold in the last half of the flour mixture until combined. Knead the dough until smooth, about 10 minutes by hand (or use a stand mixer with dough hook).
4. Place dough in bowl with a bit of olive oil in the bottom, turn dough to coat. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in warm spot until doubled, about 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 450.
6. Punch dough down and let rest for 15 minutes. Cut dough into 8 pieces; roll each into 6-8" rounds, with thicker edges.
7. Place baking sheets in preheated oven for 5 minutes. Then place pita dough rounds onto baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes, until browned and puffy.

Use for pita sandwiches, or slice into pieces and toast for 5 minutes or so in the oven and serve with hummus!

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Garlic-Basil Mayonnaise

I like the idea of making this as a way to incorporate fresh basil to add a little something extra to a plain sandwich. I got the idea from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis; Tyler Florence also likes to experiment and make his own mayonnaises in Eat This Book.

Garlic-Basil Mayonnaise

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 4-5 leaves basil, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• Splash of lemon juice
• salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Mix all ingredients together until blended.

Perfect to serve on sandwiches, burgers, or alongside french fries.

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blueberries continued

I made the best blueberry scones again the other night. I got the recipe from Food Network, it's by Tyler Florence: Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze. These are the best scones I've ever had, so yummy! I've made them without the glaze which definitely cuts back on the sugar, but I must say they are WAY better with the glaze. I transfer mine from the baking sheet directly onto a cooling rack, then put the rack over the baking sheet. This way I can add the glaze and the excess drips onto the sheet for easier cleanup.



I used another 2 cups to make multi-grain blueberry muffins last night. Here's a link to the original recipe: Multigrain Muffin, but I'll go ahead and post my slightly modified version. I enjoy this recipe because it is so simple to make and is a little healthier than the average blueberry muffin recipe with the addition of whole wheat flour and oat bran.


Blueberry Multigrain Muffins

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oat bran
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs
1 egg white
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup demarara sugar*
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups fresh blueberries
Start by preheating the oven to 375. Spray or line a muffin tin.

1. Whisk flours, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and egg white; add the buttermilk, sugar, and oil. Stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until just evenly moist; the batter should be very thick--if not, add a bit more flour.
3. Toss blueberries with a bit of flour to coat evenly; gently fold into batter.
4. Fill each muffin cup with batter and bake 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Turn muffins out onto rack and enjoy!

*Substitute with regular brown sugar. I've been experimenting with unprocessed sugars, like demarara sugar which I bought in the bulk section.

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Blueberry Sorbet

Funny story...my aunt and I decided to go out blueberry picking. We went on a nice, cool morning last week, intending to get a few pounds (I was thinking five tops). A couple hours later we stop and think maybe we went a bit overboard with our picking--which is very easy to do. After all was said and done, we ended up with 16.6 pounds of blueberries in the car, oops!

I've been trying to make some things using up my share of the blueberries, but you can only eat so many baked goods at a time. So far, I've frozen 8 cups, given 4 away, used 6 for the sorbet (recipe to follow), 2 for scones, and have about another 5 or so left. Needless to say, I'll be baking something up again tonight.

Blueberry Sorbet

Blueberry Sorbet

Sunset Magazine, June 2008

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1. Bring water and sugar to a boil; add salt and simmer 2 minutes. Transfer to a metal bowl and cool to room temperature (I put mine in the fridge for 15 minutes or so to speed up the process).
2. In a blender, puree sugar syrup, blueberries, and lemon juice. Strain mixture through a fine sieve to remove blueberry skins. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.
3. Freeze in ice cream maker (about 30 minutes in a Cuisinart machine) and transfer to freezer container.

I love this recipe because it's easy to make and everyone loves it. It only takes a few ingredients from the pantry and its done in about an hour, start to finish. Best of all, it uses up a bunch of blueberries!

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