cinnamon swirl bread

I love making bread. I love feeling the warm elastic dough in my hands while kneading, I love the fragrance that lingers in your entire house and on your hands all day, I love watching the dough rise into huge peaks and then watching those peaks turn a beautiful rich brown while baking. 

This is a really great cinnamon bread recipe. The bread itself is light and airy yet has enough density to satisfy your hunger. I substituted half the flour for whole wheat and it still turned out fluffy and not overly dense. The cinnamon filling is spicy and intense but not overly sweet. This recipe has intriguing depth to it.

Recipe from http://www.sophistimom.com/

1 scant tablespoon instant or rapid rise yeast (1 packet)

3 1/2 cups (350g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups (295mL) warm water (110 degrees)

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons honey

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

butter for pan and brushing on finished bread

1 egg white

1 cup (150g) granulated sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1. In an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook and set to low speed, mix together yeast and 3 cups of flour. Pour in the water, oil, honey, and salt. Mix on low speed for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Add up to a 1/2 cup more flour if needed.
2. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead by hand a few times. Drizzle the inside of the mixer bowl with a bit more oil. Roll the dough around in the oil and cover in plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
3. Butter a large loaf pan and set aside. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and roll out into a long rectangle the width of the loaf pan.  In a small bowl, mix together the egg white, sugar, and cinnamon, and spread out evenly across the dough.  Roll up carefully, and pinch the dough on the ends, and all along the edge to create a seam that will hold in the filling.  Lay the dough, seam side down, in the prepared pan.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Bake for 25-30 Turn minutes, or until the top and bottom of the bread is golden brown. Brush the top of the bread with butter. Tilt the bread pan on its side and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Turn the bread out and allow to cool completely, if you can with that long. 

spicy moroccan chickpea and lentil soup

recipe from The New Glucose Revolution Vegetarian Cookbook

Serves 6, prep time 20,  cook time 50

1 TBS olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 in piece fresh ginger, finely grated

3 tsp ground cilantro

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp saffron threads soaked in 2 TBS boiling water (Saffron threads are apparently "the most expensive spice in the world", $9 for a stack of 15-20 tiny threads. I decided to pass on this and just amped up the other spices and that turned out fine, still and had an awesome flavor.)

14 oz can Italian chopped tomatoes

4 c veg stock (or chicken if you're not a vegetarian) 

1 c red lentils

2 2/3 c cooked chickpeas, drained

1/3 c chopped cilantro

1/3 c chopped flat leaf parsley 

salt and pepper

low fat yogurt, to serve

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over med heat. Add onions and cook 607 min, until soft. Add garlic, ginger, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add saffron with its soaking water, tomatoes, stock, lentils and 4 cups water. Cover and bring to simmer. Simmer uncovered for 30 min. Add chickpeas and cook for a further 10 minutes. 
3. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro and parsley. Serve with a dollop of yogurt.

apple, cranberry and walnut bread

recipe from The New Glucose Revolution Vegetarian Cookbook

Makes 12 slices, preparation time 40 minutes,  cook time 45 minutes

1/2 c rolled oats

10 oz milk

1 1/2 c self-rising whole wheat flour

(I only had regular whole wheat flour. Recipe for self rising flour: 1 c flour,  1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt)

1 tsp baking powder

4 1/2 oz dried cranberries

2/3 c firmly packed dried apple, cut into small dice

1/3 c brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/3 floral honey

1/4 c walnuts, finely chopped

1. place rolled oats in a bowl, pour over the milk and set aside 30 minutes.
2. preheat oven to 350 F.
3. Sift flour and baking powder into large bowl. Add the oat mixture, cranberries, apples, sugar, spices and honey and mix well to combine. (I only had fresh fruit and agave nectar, worked fine).
4. Spoon mixture into non-stick (or greased) loaf tin, sprinkle with the walnuts. Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour. 

This is great with a spoonful of ricotta cheese drizzled with honey. 

Deer, Beer & Bacon (in that order)

To follow up the chocolate cheese and wine cupcakes I tried Maple Caramel Pumpkin Bars with Bacon. Now I may have out done Paula Dean on this one... It was interesting to say the least. The recipe is from noblepig. The pumpkin cake itself was very good, and the caramel icing was fantastic. The maple flavored bacon accented the cake's flavor and added a crunchy complexity to the texture. I took this to a deer burger party, so I figured it would fit well either way. 

Chris got a free deer courtesy of the lovely hunters at BARC, one of the many perks of being a fellow employee.  With the help of Volvo, he made pulled-deer, deer steaks, deer burgers, and deer jerky. The steak was phenomenal. I've never had deer before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I don't really know what "gamey" tastes like and still don't because but these burgers were definitely not.

Cabbage from Christopher's Lab

Master chef, slaving over a pot of boiling water.

Bars:
8 oz. bacon, diced
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1-1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 Tablespoons bacon drippings
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans 

Preheat oven to 350^o F.  Coat a 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick spray.  Cook bacon in a saute pan over medium heat until crisp; drain on a paper towel lined plate and set aside.  Reserve 2 tablespoons drippings.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and table salt for the bars in a medium bowl; set aside.  Whisk together pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, egg, melted butter, bacon drippings and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.  Stir in flour mixture and pecans.

Spread pumpkin batter evenly into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Let cool completely before frosting. 

Frosting:
 2 cups packed brown sugar
1/3 cup water
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
4 oz. cream cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
Sea salt

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add sugar and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar is completely dissolved, then adjust heat to medium and boil 2 minutes longer. Add maple syrup and boil, swirling the pan occasionally, until sauce is thick, smooth, and coats a spoon, 2 to 4 minutes longer.

Pour hot caramel into a clean stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat at medium-high speed, scraping down sides occasionally, until sides of bowl are no longer hot to the touch and closer to room temperature and caramel is thick. Add cream cheese, one cube at a time, until frosting is smooth.
 

Bobbie's chicken

From Mary Reel's Cook book. 

Pound chicken breasts

dip in milk, then in bread crumbs.

Brown in oil, drain.

Wrap chicken in prosciutto with Havarti cheese between,

Place in dish, layer with fresh spinach.

Pour 3/4 c chicken broth over chicken.

Cover dish, bake at 350 for 45 min.

Wine and Cheese Cupcakes

Yes I did and yes, you're titillated. We all love wine, cheese and dessert--why not knock them all out with one recipe? These cupcakes are for celebrating 22 years of Philip Clements! Phil, a fellow foodie, deserved something a little extra than the standard birthday cake recipe. Found this from one of my favorites, the cupcake project.

Wine and Cheese Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes + a small loaf size cake

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 oz Camembert cheese
• 1 3/4 C sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 C dry red wine 
• 1 C walnut halves

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In another medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Mix in the eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated.
4. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Alternately mix the dry ingredients and the red wine into the butter mixture until just combined. 
6. Fold in the walnuts.  (You can chop them if you prefer, but I liked the nice big chunks.)
7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
8. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.

Red Wine Chocolate Ganache

This recipe should make enough to easily frost 12 cupcakes. 

• 2 oz dark chocolate, chopped into a few pieces
• 1/2 C unsalted butter
• 2 oz red wine (I used a Shiraz)

1. Place the chocolate and the butter in a microwave-safe bowl.
2. Microwave for 10 seconds and then remove and stir.  
3. Repeat step 2 until the chocolate is all melted.
4. Slowly pour in the wine and mix thoroughly.
5. Place in the refrigerator until it hardens enough to easily spread (about 10 minutes).
6. Spread on cupcakes, use as a dip, or eat by the spoonful.

Ecuadorian Quinoa Casserole

Love me some good ol' quinoa. It cooks faster than rice and has that extra crunchy punch.

Quinoa is not technically a grain but the fruit of the Chenopodium family. It contains 16 to 20% protein, is high in amino acids that tends to be lower in other grains, contains iron, calcium, vitamin E, and is relatively high in fat. Quinoa (liek all grains) anitnutrients which interfere with the absorption of nutrients, and therefore require a long soaking as part of the preparation process in order to neutralize. This is a recipe from Nourishing Traditions from a "chipper centenarian living in Equador". It incorporates the basic principles for easy digestion and thorough assimilation--animal stock, presoaking grains, cultured cream rich in fat-soluble vitamins.

I slightly adjusted the recipe because I was missing a few ingredients.

Serves 6-8

2 c quinoa (I discovered red quinoa for this recipe. Compared to white it has a slightly earthier flavor)

6 c warm water plus 2 tbsp yoghurt or buttermilk

1 bunch green onions

2 tbsp evoo

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

4 c beef or chicken stock 

1/2 tsp garlic, mashed

2 medium potatoes, sliced thinly

4 tbsp cream cheese

1/2 tsp sea salt

Soak quinoa in warm water mixture for at least 12 hours (soaking grains in water and lactobacilli allows the break down and neutralization of phytic acid). Rinse, drain well. Saute onions in oil, add paprika and pepper, ass garlic at last minute. Add quinoa and stock, bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, simmer for 1 hour or more on very low heat. About 45 minutes before serving add potatoes and salt. To serve, stir cheese in cream cheese.

Banana Avocado Smoothie

Avocados--quite possibly the greatest fruit to ever exist on the planet. I bought a bundle about a week ago and they have just now become perfectly ripe. They've been tormenting me all week, sitting in a bowl on the kitchen table so beautiful and tempting, but not quite ripe enough to enjoy. Well the glorious day of perfect ripeness finally came today. Their creamy smooth texture makes them phenomenal in smoothies. 

1 frozen banana

1 small ripe avocado

1/2 cup (ish) whole milk

3 ice cubes

Peach & Cornmeal Upside Down Cake (dessert party part III)

(Recipe by Martha Stewart) 

       Ingredients: 

• 5 1/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 3 medium ripe peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), skins on, pitted, and cut into 3/4-inch wedges 
• 1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta 
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh lavender, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt 
• 3 large eggs1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat, using a pastry brush to coat sides with butter as it melts. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over bottom of skillet, and cook until sugar starts to bubble and turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Arrange peaches in a circle at edge of skillet, on top of sugar. Arrange the remaining wedges in the center to fill. Reduce heat to low, and cook until juices are bubbling and peaches begin to soften, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat. 
2. Whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder, lavender, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat remaining stick of butter and 3/4 cup sugar with a mixer on high speed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl. Mix in vanilla and cream. Reduce speed to low, and beat in cornmeal mixture in 2 additions. 
3.  Drop large spoonfuls of batter over peaches, and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer skillet to a wire rack, and let stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife or spatula around edge of cake. Quickly invert cake onto a cutting board. Tap bottom of skillet to release peaches, and carefully remove skillet. Reposition peach slices on top of cake. Let cool slightly before serving. 

banana tarte tatin (dessert pary part II)

Recipe from Jamie Oliver

 

Ok, so I agree this looks really disgusting. After coming out of the oven the bananas resembled something like obscenely large anchovies (in my opinion) or mushy sausages (the party consensus). But I swear this was ABSOLUTELY delicious. Bananas + orange zest + cinnamon = a catastrophic success. This was incredibly easy to make as well.

Mega Chocolate Fudge Cake (dessert party part I)

(Recipe by Jamie Oliver)

7 oz good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
  3/4 c butter, plus extra for greasing
  2/3 c soft brown sugar
  2/3 c blanched almonds
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
a pinch of salt
4 large organic free range eggs

  1 1/3 c self-raising flour
  1/4 lb fudge
crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream

 To make your cake
• Preheat the oven to 325 F

 • Break up the chocolate, put it into a food processor with the butter, sugar, almonds, 1 tablespoon of the cocoa powder and the salt, and whiz until smooth

• Crack your eggs, one at a time, into the food processor and add the flour

• Whiz again until smooth

To bake your cake

• Get a deep baking dish roughly 25 x 25cm in size

• Butter the dish really well and sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of cocoa powder over it

• Shake it around a bit so it lightly coats the whole surface of the dish

• Pour the cake mixture into the dish, using a spatula to scrape it all out of the processor

• Break the fudge into pieces and sprinkle these over the top of the cake mix, pushing any larger pieces down into the mixture

• Pop the baking dish into the preheated oven and cook for 18 to 20 minutes

• Take the cake out of the oven and stick a fork into the middle of it

• If there’s a little bit of cake mixture on the fork when you pull it out, that’s okay – you want the cake to still be a little moist inside so that it’s nice and squidgy

• However, if it seems a bit wobbly, pop it back into the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes to firm up a bit

To serve your cake

• Let your cake cool slightly and serve it warm and gooey

• Lovely with a dollop of crème fraîche, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a bit of double cream

Granola

 

Granola (Jamie Oliver)

• 2  cups  quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
• 1  heaped cup mixed nuts
• 1/4  cup  mixed seeds (sunflower, poppy, pumpkin, sesame)
• 3/4  cup  unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 5  tablespoons  maple syrup
• About 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2  cups  dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350°. Put oatmeal, mixed nuts, mixed seeds, coconut, and cinnamon on a baking sheet. Stir well; smooth out. Drizzle with maple syrup and olive oil; stir. Bake 25-30 minutes. Every 5 minutes or so take out and stir, then smooth down with a wooden spoon and put back in oven. When granola is golden, remove from oven, mix in dried fruit (roughly chop any large pieces); let cool. Serve with milk or yogurt. You can keep leftover granola in an airtight container about 2 weeks, but it's so delicious we'll be surprised if it lasts that long!

Operation Sushi

It's very wise to be friends with a fisherman. Got more white perch fillets from Randy yesterday. I've been wanting to make sushi for a while since receiving a sushi roller from Ryan. After much deliberation I decided it'd be okay to make a roll with my fresh white perch. The Japanese pair sushi with wasabi paste because it serves as an antimicrobial. This was enough assurance for me. Here I am 12 hours later and I feel perfectly fine, stomach quite happy. I shall keep you posted if any problems arise however. So the moral of my story is to never be afraid to be adventurous in your kitchen. 

Fish Baked in a Foil Parcel with Green Beans and Pesto

 

It's still summer and nothing says summer more than fresh fish. And when you don't have any fresh fish you can just use frozen, but by eating it in the summer pretend it was actually caught yesterday. 

This original recipe was done with salmon but I have frozen tilapia in bulk stashed away in the freezer so I used that instead. Tilapia has a more subdued taste that salmon so the taste of the pesto really dominated the flavors, which I didn't mind because the pesto was amazing.

Fresh Pesto 

(recipe by Nourishing Traditions):

Makes 1 cup

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, washed, dried

2-4 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 tsp sea salt

1.4 cup pine nuts (optional!)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4-1/2 cup evoo

Fresh pine nuts were entirely too expensive so I did with out. Place basil in food processor. Pulse. Add garlic, salt, pine nuts and cheese, blend well. Slowly pour in evoo while processor is still running.  Pesto will form a thick paste.

Fish Foil Parcel

(recipe by Jamie's Revolution)

2 handfuls of green beans

2 lemons

1 7 oz chunky salmon fillets

2 heaping TBSPs green pesto

olive oil

sea salt, fresh ground black pepper

Heat oven to 400 F. Trim beans and wash. Place in center of large piece of tin foil. Place fillet on top. Drizzle with pesto and olive oil. Squeeze lemon. Season with salt and pepper. Fold up foil into parcel. Place on baking sheet and into oven for 15 minutes. That easy!

 

 

Leftover Chicken Revamped

Curry Chicken Salad

Leftover chicken

Plain cream top yogurt

Grapes, halved

Raisins

Walnuts, roughly chopped

Curry powder, a shit-ton (very technical terms. can vary between 2 tsp to 2 tbsp)

Mix and enjoy. Eat on a sandwich or over greens.

 

Picnic on the beach

 

Bananas--you stole the last doughnut, ah!

 

Roasted Polyface Chicken

Finally cooked my Polyface broiler today. Used Jamie's trusty roasted chicken recipe. My parents have made this recipe a few times but this was the first time I tried it on my own...my first gravy from scratch experience too. Very exiting. Joel didn't let me down. The chicken was amazing--every single part of it.

Cooking for Geeks

“If you never want to fail, you should eat PB&J for the rest of your life. But if you’re willing to go out on a limb, you might ultimately be rewarded with a wonderful new food discovery. “

cool blog I discovered: http://www.cookingforgeeks.com/blog/

Chris's Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday Christopher! By request, here is a vanilla butter cake.

the new work space

very proud of this beautiful pan extraction

Best Butter Cake (recipe from Sunset: Living in the West magazine)

simple, yummy, extremely versatile

2 1/4 c cake flour, sifted

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 c sugar

1/2 c unsalted butter at room temp

1 large eggs at room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 c milk

Cake flour VS All-purpose flour:

Cake flour is made from soft wheats while all-purpose is made from a blend of hard and soft wheat flours and is not as high in gluten as cake flour.  if you only have all-purpose just use this conversion factor, 1 cup baking flour = 1 cup minus 2 tbsp all-purpose

1. sift together dry ingredients. blend together sugar and butter until creamy. crack eggs into sepearte bowl and add vanilla. add one egg at a time. mix dry ingredients into sugar mixture in small batches, alternating with milk. make sure each batch is fully incorporating before adding the next.
2. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. butter and flour 2 round 8-inch cake pans. 
3. bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, cake bounces back after taping with finger
4. cool cakes 5 minutes, remove from pans by inverting onto a rack, let cool to room temp

Brown Butter Icing (Better Homes & Gardens) 

1/2 c butter

4 c sifted powdered sugar

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter until light brown color. Mix with sifted sugar, milk, vanilla. Add additional milk if needed. Ices two top sides of an 8-inch cake.